Looks like the stock may have moved up on the vancoymycin-resistant bacteria news. Not as good as a substantive company-related announcement and the stock may not keep the gain, but it points up the long-term need for MCDE's research. Here's the news:
Alarming Case of Bacterial Resistance
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The first U.S. case of infection with a strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria having a level of
resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin has been reported, say government officials.
"Until now, vancomycin has been the most effective antibiotic against this microbe, especially for serious cases of infection. It
has been a terribly important agent in the armamentarium for clinicians, This is the first chink in that armor," said Dr. William
Jarvis, acting-director of the hospital infections program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Vancomycin "has been the last uniformly effective antimicrobial available for treatment of serious S. aureus infections," say the
CDC.
"The finding increases the possibility that levels of resistance will eventually develop which could make infections untreatable
with currently available drugs," according to the CDC report released Thursday.
The report notes, however, that the bacterial strain in question was still "susceptible" to other antibiotics available in the United
States such as tetracycline.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most common causes of both hospital- and community-acquired infections
worldwide. The bacteria is commonly found harmlessly on the skin, but it may also cause infections such as skin and blood
stream infections, and in serious cases, can cause death.
"The patient in question had been treated with multiple courses of vancomycin for repeated episodes of peritonitis (inflammation
of the abdomen lining) that was resistant to the antibiotic methicillin," the report notes.
In tests of bacteria isolated from the patient, two of six isolates showed a "resistance profile."
The CDC says the finding "may signal the eventual emergence of S. aureus strains with full resistance to vancomycin."
Jarvis says earlier reports from Japan indicate that S. aureus resistant to vancomycin looks different from nonresistant strains.
"The strains that were sensitive to vancomycin had a normal-looking cell wall and those that had an intermediate resistance to
vancomycin had a very thick cell wall," he says. "So we think that what's happening to S. aureus is that as it has exposure to
vancomycin, it is gradually able to alter its cell wall so that vancomycin has more difficulty penetrating the organism."
The CDC reports cites widespread misuse of antibiotics as a major contributing factor for the emergence of resistant strains of
bacteria.
The agency is now coordinating efforts to reduce possible spread of vancomycin-resistant strains, including implementing more
rigorous infection control procedures and appropriate use of antibiotics. It is also working with the Food and Drug
Administration to develop new treatments.
The first case of a patient infected with a strain of S. aureus with a reduced level of resistance to vancomycin was reported in
Japan in 1996. SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (1997;46(33):765-766) |
