The authors of this new paper have really cooked up something interesting! “Microbial Safety of Wood in Contact with Food: A Review” by Florence Aviat, et al and published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety is an 86-reference review on materials found in kitchens. Elisabeth Bik did list this in her March 7 blog of new papers, but this one …
Here are some recent news and science articles on antibiotic resistance that I found this afternoon: Some not so happy stories – Intestinal microbiome is related to lifetime antibiotic use in Finnish pre-school children Antimicrobial resistance a challenge to public health: Nadda Some happy/cool stories – Audiocast: Developing new antimicrobial drugs and alternatives Bills would prohibit livestock …
Two recent news articles cover some new attempts at curbing antimicrobial resistance. The first discusses Kaiser’s ban on 13 different antimicrobials that are commonly used on surfaces, like fabrics and finishes. Although this change will only affect future facilities, it is a step forward in reducing sources of antimicrobial resistance. This is especially important in hospitals, …
A few weeks ago, I came across this article that someone had posted to social media with the title “Your make-up could KILL you: Deadly meningitis bacteria discovered in products”. It turns out there are a lot of articles on the internet discussing the horrors of expired makeup, the most recent ones linking back to a …
A new PLoS One article from Dorado-GarcÃa et al. on the effectiveness of certain countermeasures to antimicrobial resistance shows some encouraging results. The study used MRSA levels as a positive indicator for antimicrobial resistance in Dutch veal farms. There were three methods of reducing MRSA levels in the farms that were studied: one program used protocol-driven methods, one used …
Almost everyone in developed countries uses cosmetics, from body washes to make-up. In the US, the cosmetics industry makes over $56 billion dollars in revenue. As a society, we use a lot of personal care products. And in order for those products to have a useful shelf-life, they contain antimicrobials – no one wants to open their …
There was a very interesting artilce in the New York Times on August 21 bu Michael Kimmelman: In Redesigned Room, Hospital Patients May Feel Better Already. The article focuses on a move by the University Medical Center of Princeton to redesign hospital rooms. And Kimmelman discusses a variety of issues associated with hospital design. And there were …
This study by C. Balagna et al from 2012 looks at the application of their product on spacecraft. They covered a commercial polymer generally used in aerospace with an antimicrobial made of silver and silica using radio frequencies. This was done in an attempt to mitigate the amount of contamination of spacecraft surfaces. When in space, …
A recent microbe.net post discussed the use of copper as an antimicrobial to prevent infections in healthcare settings. This is not a particularly new concept, but unfortunately, the literature appears dominated by authors who received funding from the copper industry and its associations. Such industrial funding is not unique to copper and is, sadly, more …