Maryn McKenna's Blog, page 5

Resistant ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Increase Fivefold in Southeastern U.S.

There's worrisome news here in the southeastern US, buried in a journal that is favorite reading only for superbug geeks like me. The rate at which hospitals are recognizing cases of CRE -- the form of antibiotic resistance that is so serious the CDC dubbed it a "nightmare"---rose five times over between 2008 and 2012.

Resistant “Nightmare Bacteria” Increase Five-Fold in Southeastern U.S.

There’s worrisome news here in the southeastern US, buried in a journal that is favorite reading only for superbug geeks like me. The rate at which hospitals are recognizing cases of CRE — the form of antibiotic resistance that is so serious the CDC dubbed it a “nightmare” — rose five times over between 2008 […]

Update on the Found Vials: There Weren’t 6; There Were 327. (Not All of Them Were Smallpox)

Remember those six vials of smallpox-causing variola that the feds found last week? They were found in the company of 321 other vials of various deadly diseases.

Update on the Found Vials: There Weren’t 6; There Were 327. (Not All of Them Were Smallpox.)

I was away reporting most of today, and while I was out, a few federal emails landed in my mail with what probably sounded like a  thud. One was an official announcement from the Food and Drug Administration; the others were copies of FDA and NIH emails that people there though I should see. They […]

CDC Lab Errors and Their Implications: Congressional Hearing Today

The nation's top health leaders will appear in front of congress today to answer questions about the recent lab accidents involving smallpox and avian flu.

The Leader of the Smallpox Eradication Effort Speaks About the Virus’ Rediscovery

The scientist who led the effort to eradicate smallpox in the 1960s speaks out about the vials of the virus recently found in a storage room.

Virus in Found Tubes of Smallpox Is Viable

Here’s an update on the vials found on the National Institutes of Health campus last week that were labeled smallpox, and transported earlier this week to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The CDC and NIH have both confirmed that the virus in two of the tubes is viable. That is, if the vials […]

What the Forthcoming White House Report on Antibiotic Resistance Will Ask For

Among the groups that work on awareness of antibiotics resistance — which include major medical and public health organizations as well as nonprofits trying to direct attention to antibiotic misuse in medicine and agriculture — there has been a lot of anticipation of a forthcoming report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and […]

Found: Forgotten Vials of Smallpox

Workers clearing out an old storage room at the National Institutes of Health have found a forgotten box of vials that contain smallpox.

Government Leadership on Antibiotic Resistance — in Europe

A few pieces of news relative to antibiotic resistance caught my eye over the past few days. What they all had in common: Highly placed politicians stating unambiguously that antibiotic resistance should be a national and international priority. This is superb, with just one catch: The politicians were in Europe. The politicians speaking out were […]