Deadly 'Superbugs' Invade US Health Care Facilities

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Source: University of Virginia Health System. By Frank Pompa, USA TODAY.

Written By:Peter Eisler,USA Today

Charlottesville, VA -- The doctors tried one antibiotic after another, racing to stop the infection as it tore through the man's body, but nothing worked.

In a matter of days after the middle-aged patient arrived at University of Virginia Medical Center, the stubborn bacteria in his blood had fought off even what doctors consider "drugs of last resort."

"It was very alarming; it was the first time we'd seen that kind of resistance," says Amy Mathers, one of the hospital's infectious-disease specialists. "We didn't know what to offer the patient."

The man died three months later, but the bacteria wasn't done. In the months that followed, it struck again and again in the same hospital, in various forms, as doctors raced to decipher the secret to its spread.

The superbug that hit UVA four years ago -- and remains a threat -- belongs to a once-obscure family of drug-resistant bacteria that has stalked U.S. hospitals and nursing homes for over a decade. Now, it's attacking in hundreds of those institutions, a USA TODAY examination shows, and it's a fight the medical community is not well positioned to win.

The bacteria, known as Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, are named for their ability to fight off carbapenem antibiotics -- the last line of defense in the medical toolbox. And so far, they've emerged almost exclusively in health care facilities, picking off the weakest of patients.

The bacteria made headlines this summer after a CRE strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae battered the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center outside Washington, D.C. Seven died, including a 16-year-old boy. (Hospitals don't reveal victims' names in keeping with medical privacy rules.) But that case was neither the first nor the worst of the CRE attacks.

USA TODAY's research shows there have been thousands of CRE cases throughout the country in recent years -- they show up as everything from pneumonia to intestinal and urinary tract infections. Yet even larger outbreaks like the UVA episode, in which seven patients also died, have received little or no national attention until now.

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Deadly 'Superbugs' Invade US Health Care Facilities

Mo. Gov. Nixon backs expanded Medicaid; GOPs don't

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Breaking months of silence on the subject, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday embraced a broad expansion of Medicaid health care coverage for working adults, but his support was met with immediate criticism by Republican legislative leaders.

Nixon had remained noncommittal during his recent re-election campaign about the multi-billion-dollar Medicaid expansion called for under President Barack Obama's health care law. But Nixon said Thursday that he had analyzed the plan since the Nov. 6 election and concluded that expanding Medicaid to an estimated 300,000 additional people was both "the smart thing" and "the right thing to do."

Top Republicans reacted with resounding disapproval.

House Speaker Tim Jones said Nixon's proposal is probably dead on arrival in his chamber. Sen. Tom Dempsey, who is in line to become Senate president pro tem, said it's "very unlikely" that Republican lawmakers would approve a plan that encourages "an ever-expansive federal government."

Under a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, each state can decide whether to expand Medicaid to adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, as allowed under the federal law. The federal government would pay the full cost starting in 2014, but states would have to begin paying a 5 percent share in 2017 that would gradually increase to 10 percent by 2020.

Nixon vowed to "work tirelessly" to persuade lawmakers that the Medicaid expansion makes sense financially and would improve the health of thousands of their constituents.

"If we take a pass on billions of health care dollars dollars that come out of Missourians' paychecks that money will go to some other state. They'll get the benefit, and we'll get the bill," Nixon said in a conference call with Capitol reporters. "That's not smart, and that's not right."

Cost estimates for the proposed Medicaid expansion have varied greatly.

Nixon's administration said Thursday that it was still working on those numbers. A report released Wednesday by the Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri Foundation for Health estimates a Missouri Medicaid expansion would cost the federal government $8.2 billion and the state $333 million between 2014 and 2020. A report released earlier this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Urban Institute projected the federal government's cost at $17.8 billion and the state's share at $1.6 billion from 2013 to 2022.

Republicans said that's more than either the deficit-plagued federal government or the budget-crunched state government should be spending.

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Mo. Gov. Nixon backs expanded Medicaid; GOPs don't

Changing health care requires asking difficult questions, like: Does Nashua only need one hospital?

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NASHUA – Everybody wants to lower the cost of health care, but doing so will require answering a lot of very difficult questions. Like this one: Does Nashua really need two hospitals? “I like to see them figure out how to work together; to look at which has the best resources, which is the best use of each facility,” said Dr. James Weinstein, a spinal surgeon who as head of Dartmouth-Hitchcock ...

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Changing health care requires asking difficult questions, like: Does Nashua only need one hospital?

Deadly 'superbugs' invade health care facilities

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (USA TODAY) -- The doctors tried one antibiotic after another, racing to stop the infection as it tore through the man's body, but nothing worked.

In a matter of days after the middle-aged patient arrived at University of Virginia Medical Center, the stubborn bacteria in his blood had fought off even what doctors consider "drugs of last resort."

"It was very alarming; it was the first time we'd seen that kind of resistance," says Amy Mathers, one of the hospital's infectious-disease specialists. "We didn't know what to offer the patient."

The man died three months later, but the bacteria wasn't done. In the months that followed, it struck again and again in the same hospital, in various forms, as doctors raced to decipher the secret to its spread.

The superbug that hit UVA four years ago -- and remains a threat -- belongs to a once-obscure family of drug-resistant bacteria that has stalked U.S. hospitals and nursing homes for over a decade. Now, it's attacking in hundreds of those institutions, a USA TODAY examination shows, and it's a fight the medical community is not well positioned to win.

The bacteria, known as Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, are named for their ability to fight off carbapenem antibiotics -- the last line of defense in the medical toolbox. And so far, they've emerged almost exclusively in health care facilities, picking off the weakest of patients.

The bacteria made headlines this summer after a CRE strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae battered the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center outside Washington, D.C. Seven died, including a 16-year-old boy. (Hospitals don't reveal victims' names in keeping with medical privacy rules.) But that case was neither the first nor the worst of the CRE attacks.

USA TODAY's research shows there have been thousands of CRE cases throughout the country in recent years -- they show up as everything from pneumonia to intestinal and urinary tract infections. Yet even larger outbreaks like the UVA episode, in which seven patients also died, have received little or no national attention until now.

The bacteria's ability to defeat even the most potent antibiotics has conjured fears of illnesses that can't be stopped. Death rates among patients with CRE infections can be about 40%, far worse than other, better-known health care infections such as MRSA or C-Diff, which have plagued hospitals and nursing homes for decades. And there are growing concerns that CRE could make its way beyond health facilities and into the general community.

"From the perspective of drug-resistant organisms, (CRE) is the most serious threat, the most serious challenge we face to patient safety," says Arjun Srinivasan, associate director for prevention of health care-associated infections at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Deadly 'superbugs' invade health care facilities

Weill Cornell researchers elected Fellows of AAAS

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Public release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lauren Woods Law2014@med.cornell.edu 646-317-7401 New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College

NEW YORK (Nov. 29, 2012) -- Weill Cornell Medical College researchers Dr. Shahin Rafii and Dr. Xin-Yun Huang have been elected new Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society, for their significant contributions to the advancement of the biological sciences.

Dr. Rafii, director of the Ansary Stem Cell Institute and the Arthur B. Belfer Professor in Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell, is honored for his important contributions to the field of vascular biology, stem cell homeostasis and the development of transformative preclinical models to induce organ regeneration and target tumors. Dr. Huang, professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell, is recognized for his distinguished contributions in the field of cellular signaling, particularly his investigations of G-protein-mediated cell signaling.

"Dr. Rafii and Dr. Huang's research discoveries in cellular communication, stem cell research, cancer and vascular disease have led to major advancements in biomedical research and the development of targeted therapies," says Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, who is also a Fellow of AAAS. "Weill Cornell is very proud of the work of these two world-renowned innovators in medicine and their new membership in this prominent community of scientists dedicated to advancing science around the world."

This year, Dr. Rafii and Dr. Huang are among the 702 new Fellows awarded election to the AAAS for their scientifically or socially-distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. This prestigious honor of AAAS election is bestowed by peer Fellows of AAAS.

Dr. Rafii and Dr. Huang will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin, representing science and engineering, on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. Also, new AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS' journal Science on Nov. 30.

Dr. Rafii, an internationally known vascular biologist, cancer and stem-cell authority, is also an investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Weill Cornell. Dr. Rafii's research explores innovative therapeutic frontiers for cancer and vascular disorders. His research focuses on the understanding of stem cell biology, as well as the means to develop and test innovative approaches to treat cancer and vascular disorders by exploring the therapeutic potential of human and embryonic stem cells and, most recently, amniotic-fluid derived cells for treatment of human malignancies, vascular diseases and genetic disorders. His work has paved the way for stem-cell therapy for the treatment of vascular insufficiencies. Dr. Rafii received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Cornell University and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has been funded by multiple grants from the National Institute of Health's Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and is an active member of the Tumor Microenvironment Study Section at the National Cancer Institute. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, an American Cancer Society Scholar and a Translational Researcher of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Dr. Huang's research focuses on G protein-coupled receptors and G proteins that are key cell signaling molecules with the ability to control and disseminate information flow. G protein-coupled receptors represent approximately 40 percent of the current drug targets. These receptors are activated by a diverse array of ligands, including photons, odorants, chemokines, hormones, growth factors and neurotransmitters. The GPCR-G protein signaling system plays critical roles in various physiological functions such as cardiovascular and neurological functions, and in human diseases such as cancer. Dr. Huang examines signal transduction using biochemical, genetic, molecular, cellular and structural biological approaches to uncover fundamental mechanisms that govern cellular signaling and physiological functions. His team inspects cross-talk between G proteins and nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, two of the most widely used cellular signaling mechanisms. Dr. Huang explores the activation mechanisms of G proteins by G protein-coupled receptors, the regulatory mechanisms of endothelial cell migration, blood vessel formation and tumor angiogenesis by G proteins, as well as the control mechanisms for actin cytoskeletal reorganization, cell migration and tumor metastasis. Dr. Huang completed his undergraduate studies at Wuhan University in China, received his Ph.D. from the University of Houston and his postdoctoral research training at Columbia University and Harvard University.

The AAAS Fellows tradition began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association's 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members, or by the AAAS chief executive officer. Each steering group then reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list. The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.

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Weill Cornell researchers elected Fellows of AAAS

UK, German and US scientists decipher complex genetic code to create new tools for breeders and researchers across the …

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ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) Scientists have unlocked key components of the genetic code of one of the world's most important crops. The first analysis of the complex and exceptionally large bread wheat genome, published today in Nature, is a major breakthrough in breeding wheat varieties that are more productive and better able to cope with disease, drought and other stresses that cause crop losses.

The identification of around 96,000 wheat genes, and insights into the links between them, lays strong foundations for accelerating wheat improvement through advanced molecular breeding and genetic engineering. The research contributes to directly improving food security by facilitating new approaches to wheat crop improvement that will accelerate the production of new wheat varieties and stimulate new research. The analysis comes just two years after UK researchers finished generating the sequence.

The project was led by Neil Hall, Mike Bevan, Keith Edwards, Klaus Mayer, from the University of Liverpool, the John Innes Centre, the University of Bristol, and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz-Zentrum, Munich, respectively, and Anthony Hall at the University of Liverpool. W. Richard McCombie at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Jan Dvorak at the Univerisity of California, Davis, led the US contribution to the project.

The team sifted through vast amounts of DNA sequence data, translating the sequence into something that scientists and plant breeders can use effectively. All of their data and analyses were freely available to users world-wide.

Professor Neil Hall said: "The raw data of the wheat genome is like having tens of billions of scrabble letters; you know which letters are present, and their quantities, but they need to be assembled on the board in the right sequence before you can spell out their order into genes."

"We've identified about 96,000 genes and placed them in an approximate order. This has made a strong foundation for both further refinement of the genome and for identifying useful genetic variation in genes that scientists and breeders can use for crop improvement."

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: "This groundbreaking research is testament to the excellence of Britain's science base and demonstrates the capability we want to build on through the agri-tech strategy currently being developed.

"The findings will help us feed a growing global population by speeding up the development of new varieties of wheat able to cope with the challenges faced by farmers worldwide."

Wheat has a global output of over 680million tonnes; bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) provides over a fifth of the calories that we eat. As the global population and the demand for wheat rises, major efforts are underway to improve productivity by producing varieties that can withstand adverse weather and disease, and that provide greater yields. However, until now the very large size and complexity of the genome have been significant barriers to crop improvement.

Klaus Mayer said: "Bread wheat is a complex hybrid, composed of the complete genomes of three closely related grasses. This makes it very complex and large; in total it is almost five times bigger than the human genome."

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UK, German and US scientists decipher complex genetic code to create new tools for breeders and researchers across the ...

Major breakthrough in deciphering bread wheat's genetic code

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Public release date: 28-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rob Dawson 01-793-413-204 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Scientists have unlocked key components of the genetic code of one of the world's most important crops. The first analysis of the complex and exceptionally large bread wheat genome, published today in Nature, is a major breakthrough in breeding wheat varieties that are more productive and better able to cope with disease, drought and other stresses that cause crop losses.

The identification of around 96,000 wheat genes, and insights into the links between them, lays strong foundations for accelerating wheat improvement through advanced molecular breeding and genetic engineering. The research contributes to directly improving food security by facilitating new approaches to wheat crop improvement that will accelerate the production of new wheat varieties and stimulate new research. The analysis comes just two years after UK researchers finished generating the sequence.

The project was led by Neil Hall, Mike Bevan, Keith Edwards, Klaus Mayer, from the University of Liverpool, the John Innes Centre, the University of Bristol, and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz-Zentrum, Munich, respectively, and Anthony Hall at the University of Liverpool. W. Richard McCombie at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Jan Dvorak at the Univerisity of California, Davis, led the US contribution to the project.

The team sifted through vast amounts of DNA sequence data, translating the sequence into something that scientists and plant breeders can use effectively. All of their data and analyses were freely available to users world-wide.

Professor Neil Hall said: "The raw data of the wheat genome is like having tens of billions of scrabble letters; you know which letters are present, and their quantities, but they need to be assembled on the board in the right sequence before you can spell out their order into genes."

"We've identified about 96,000 genes and placed them in an approximate order. This has made a strong foundation for both further refinement of the genome and for identifying useful genetic variation in genes that scientists and breeders can use for crop improvement."

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: "This groundbreaking research is testament to the excellence of Britain's science base and demonstrates the capability we want to build on through the agri-tech strategy currently being developed.

"The findings will help us feed a growing global population by speeding up the development of new varieties of wheat able to cope with the challenges faced by farmers worldwide."

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Major breakthrough in deciphering bread wheat's genetic code

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Game Movie – Video

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Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Game Movie
http://www.gamematics.net During a training mission on Shadow Moses, a nuclear weapons training facility on a remote island off the coast of Alaska, the Special Forces unit FOXHOUND rebelled against the United States government, under the command of Liquid Snake. Their target was the advanced weapon system Metal Gear REX, a gigantic robotic weapons platform able to independently launch a nuclear warhead at any target on the face of the planet. Their demand was the body of the greatest soldier who ever lived, Big Boss, which, through gene therapy, they could use to create an army of ultimate soldiers. With the safety of the entire world at stake, Colonel Roy Campbell, the former commander of FOXHOUND, summoned Solid Snake out of retirement for one last solo covert operation. Gameplay MrPlentl Developer: Silicon Knights Konami Publisher: KonamiFrom:lapman17Views:6 0ratingsTime:03:43:40More inGaming

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Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Game Movie - Video

Humanity Enhanced: A Conversation with Ray Kurzweil at Techonomy 2012 – Video

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Humanity Enhanced: A Conversation with Ray Kurzweil at Techonomy 2012
Author, inventor, and futurist Ray Kurzweil talks with Techonomy founder David Kirkpatrick at the Techonomy 2012 conference in Tucson, Ariz. For full transcript, go to techonomy.comFrom:techonomymediaViews:66 6ratingsTime:26:27More inScience Technology

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Humanity Enhanced: A Conversation with Ray Kurzweil at Techonomy 2012 - Video

Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the VAHHS Annual Meeting – PART ONE – Video

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Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the VAHHS Annual Meeting - PART ONE
PART ONE - Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Recently Spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.From:TheVAHHSViews:4 0ratingsTime:05:40More inPeople Blogs

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Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the VAHHS Annual Meeting - PART ONE - Video

Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the 2012 VAHHS Annual Meeting – PART FOUR – Video

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Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the 2012 VAHHS Annual Meeting - PART FOUR
Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the 2012 VAHHS Annual Meeting - PART FOURFrom:TheVAHHSViews:0 0ratingsTime:05:49More inPeople Blogs

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Health Care Futurist Ian Morrison Speaks at the 2012 VAHHS Annual Meeting - PART FOUR - Video