Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1058489
21 ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE & STEWARDSHIP UC Berkeley researchers create rapid test to detect superbugs By Mackenzie Bean R esearchers from the University of California, Berkeley created a simple test to rapidly detect antibi- otic-resistant bacteria strains, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in ChemBioChem. e DETECT test identifies the molecular signatures of antibiotic-resistant bacteria using a patient's urine sample, specifically looking for the presence of beta-lactamas- es, which break down antibiotics. "DETECT tells you not only who has antibiotic-resistant infections but also tells you who could be treated by ear- ly-generation antibiotics, allowing you to spare higher-end antibiotics and slow the spread of drug resistance," Niren Murthy, PhD, a professor of engineering at UC Berkeley and one of the study's authors, said in a news release. e test would allow clinicians to collect a urine sample and diagnose antibiotic-resis- tant infections in a physician's office instead of waiting several days for lab results. Tara deBoer, PhD, a study author and postdoctoral fellow in UC Berkeley's Col- lege of Engineering, co-founded a company called BioAmp Diagnostics to commercial- ize the technology behind the diagnostic test. She is also working with physicians and hospital lab specialists to design DE- TECT tests for different medical settings. "Everybody has different needs in the hospital," Dr. deBoer said in a news release. "Right now, we have a lot of designs, but what we are doing is allow- ing the intended use to define what the design is going to look like." n Study: Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing common for acute pancreatitis By Harrison Cook A ntibiotics are often misused to prevent or treat acute pancreatitis, even though international treatment guidelines indicate antibi- otics should only be used when patients develop an infection, according to a study published in Pancreatology. Here are four things to know: 1. For the study, researchers in the United Kingdom collected data from The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death to see how physicians managed acute pancreatitis cases. Re- searchers examined data for 712 adult patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis admitted to hospitals in England and Wales between January to June 2014. Peer-reviewed questionnaires were the main method of collecting data. 2. Researchers found 62 percent of patients received antibiotics, repre- senting 891 separate prescriptions and 23 clinical indications. Forty-one percent of patients received a second course of antibiotics and 24 per- cent received a third course, which was the maximum amount. 3. Researchers also investigated what the antibiotics were prescribed for. The first and third most common reason for prescribing a first and third course of antibiotics was "unspecified." The most common reason for a second course of antibiotics was sepsis. About 19 percent of antibiotic indications were deemed inappropriate by clinicians, and 18 percent were deemed inappropriate by case reviewers. 4. The researchers concluded inappropriate use of antibiotics for acute pan- creatitis is common and urged healthcare providers to ensure antimicrobial policies are put in place to better consider antimicrobial stewardship. n Hair-like structures on bacteria could open door for new antibiotics By Mackenzie Bean T he surface of pathogenic bacteria like E. coli contains hair-like struc- tures called pili, which help bacteria bind to a host cell and stimulate infection. Researchers identified a new stage of pilus creation, which could offer helpful knowl- edge for creating new antibiotics, accord- ing to a study published in Nature. For the study, David Thanassi, PhD, chair of the molecular genetics and microbiology department at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University, and his colleagues used crypto-electron mi- croscopy — an advanced imaging technique — to analyze pili on the surface of E. coli. Researchers discovered a previously uniden- tified stage in the pilus' formation process. "This discovery provides us with new insights into the mechanism by which bac- teria build these essential virulence struc- tures leading to infection," Dr. Thanassi told Futurity. "Our findings open the door to new therapies targeting bacterial pili, and related virulence factors, as an alternative to traditional antibiotics." n