Infectious Diseases

Researchers launch Phase 1 clinical trial of potential MRSA treatment
Scientists have begun the first human clinical trial of EDP-788, an investigational oral antibiotic intended to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. The Phase 1 trial, which will enroll as many as 64 healthy men and women ages 18 to 45, will evaluate the investigational drug's safety as well as how it is broken down and processed in the body. The trial is being conducted by the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Enanta Pharmaceuticals through contract funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID funded Enanta's earlier preclinical testing and development of EDP-788. MedicalXpress

Study finds TB strains in Russia becoming both more resistant to drugs and faster evolving
An international team of researchers has found that bacteria responsible for Tuberculosis (TB) are becoming more resistant to drugs in Russia than are strains in other parts of the world. In their paper published in the journal Nature Genetics, the team describes how they collected TB isolates from 2,348 people and sequenced the genomes of 1000 of them. In so doing they discovered that not only are many of the strains becoming resistant to drugs meant to disable them, but they have evolved in a way that allows them to overcome antibacterial agents' tendency to cause a slowdown in cell division.MedicalXpress 

NIH grantees develop way to make old antibiotic work against TB
Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed a method to synthesize modified forms of an established antibiotic called spectinomycin. The modified forms, unlike the original drug, can act against tuberculosis (TB) bacteria. The new compounds overcome a pump mechanism that TB bacteria ordinarily use to expel standard spectinomycin and were highly effective when tested in mice with either acute or chronic TB infection. Eurekalert!

China announces H7N9 bird flu deaths
Twelve people have been killed by H7N9 bird flu in a single Chinese province this month, state media reported on Monday, as infections from the virus see a seasonal spike. The deaths were recorded in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local health authorities. The report came as China was said to have dropped its previous description of H7N9 bird flu as "infectious" in new guidelines on how to deal with the disease. MedicalXpress