Rates of antibiotic-resistant head and neck infections increased in pediatric patients nationwide between 2001 and 2006, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A report by researchers in the Jan. 19, 2009 Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery shows that there was nationwide increase in the prevalence of pediatric methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) head and neck infections from January 2001 to December 2006.

In nanoscience’s version of a David-and-Goliath story, scientists in Connecticut are reporting the first direct evidence that carbon nanotubes have powerful antimicrobial activity, a discovery that could help fight the growing problem of antibiotic resistant infections.

Pigs could be the key to understanding how antibiotic resistant bacteria persist in Intensive Care Units in hospitals.

Could the food we eat be contributing to the continuing rise of antibiotic-resistant infections? Harmless and even beneficial bacteria that exist in our food supply may also be carrying genes that code for antibiotic resistance. Once in our bodies, could they transmit the resistance genes to disease-causing bacteria?