Hospital bug drug hope

Thursday February 3rd, 2011

A new drug may make a powerful impact on the pernicious hospital infection, C.difficile, researchers reported last night.

The antibiotic Fidaxmocin is claimed as the first new drug against the condition for decades.

A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says it has been shown to reduce recurrence of the condition by 45 per cent more than existing treatments.

Canadian researchers conducted a randomised double-blind trial involving some 639 patients over a two year period, ending in 2008.

Researcher Dr Mark Miller, of the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, said: "There wasn't much interest in C. difficile for many years, because it wasn't considered a serious disease.

"However, over the past decade the bacterium has mutated into something much more serious that has caused epidemics worldwide. It is particularly notorious for recurrences. About 20 to 30 percent of patients suffer relapses.

"Recurrent C. difficile is very difficult to treat, and this has spurred interest in newer and better treatments.

"Anything that can reduce the recurrence rate, especially as dramatically as Fidaxomicin, is a very important milestone in the treatment of C. difficile."

New England Journal of Medicine February 3 2011

Tags: MRSA & Hygiene | North America | Nursing & Midwifery

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