Compound that destroys MRSA superbug IDd

 A compound that both inhibits the MRSA superbug and renders it more vulnerable to antibiotics has been discovered by scientists at the University of Bath in the UK led by Dr Maisem Laabei and Dr Ian Blagbrough.

The novel compound -- a polyamine -- seems to destroy Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes (among other things) deadly Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, by disrupting the pathogen's cell membrane.

The compound was tested in-vitro against 10 different antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus, including some that are known to be resistant to vancomycin -- the final drug of choice given to patients fighting an MRSA infection. The compound was completely successful against all strains, resulting in no further bacterial growth.

The study shows that as well as destroying S. aureus directly, the compound is able to restore the sensitivity of multidrug resistant strains of the bacteria to three important antibiotics (daptomycin, oxacillin and vancomycin). This could mean that antibiotics that have become ineffective through decades of overuse may, in time, reclaim their ability to bring serious infections under control.

"We're not entirely sure why these synergies occur between the compound and antibiotics, but we're keen to explore this further," said Dr Laabei, researcher from the Department of Live Sciences at Bath.

The pathogen's vulnerability

Polyamines are naturally occurring compounds found in most living organisms. Until a decade ago, they were thought to be essential to all life, but scientists now know they are both absent in, and toxic to, S. aureus. Since making this discovery, researchers have been attempting to exploit the pathogen's unusual vulnerability to polyamines to inhibit bacterial growth.

Now Dr Laabei and his colleagues have found that a modified polyamine (named AHA-1394) is far more effective at destroying antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus than even the most active natural polyamine.

Explaining, Dr Laabei said: "Using our novel compound, the pathogen is destroyed -- meaning growth is inhibited -- when it's used at a concentration that's over 128 times lower than that required to destroy the pathogen when we use a natural polyamine.

"This is important, as drugs that have the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration are likely to be more effective antimicrobial agents, and to be safer to the patient."

Though further research is needed, Dr Laabei believes the new compound "could have important implications in a clinical setting as a new treatment option."

He said: "Preliminary research suggests the compound is non-toxic to humans, which of course is essential. In our next study, for which we're seeking funding, we hope to focus on the precise mechanisms used by the compound to inhibit S. aureus. We believe the compound attacks the membrane of S. aureus, resulting in the membrane becoming permeable, resulting in bacterial death."

The compound was also tested against biofilm -- the thin, hard-to-treat layer of microorganisms that grows on hard surfaces (seen, for instance, as plaque on teeth or a stubborn film on urinary catheters) and can result in serious infection. The results were promising here too, with the compound preventing the formation of new biofilm, though not disrupting established biofilm.

Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance (or antimicrobial resistance -- AMR) poses a major threat to human health around the world, and S. aureus has become one of the most notorious multidrug-resistant pathogens.

A recent study looking back at the health effects of AMR in 2019 finds the pathogen was associated with one-million deaths worldwide, as a result of infections not responding to antibiotics.

S. aureus is found in 30% of the population, living in people's nasal passages and on the skin, and mostly it does not cause infection. Until quite recently, an MRSA infection was regarded as a hospital problem, and those affected were mostly people with an already compromised immune system. Over the past 20 years, however, for complex and only partially understood reasons, there has been an upswing in community-wide infections even among otherwise healthy individuals, bringing a sense of urgency to the quest to find fresh ways to tackle the problem.

"New treatments are urgently needed to treat infections," said Dr Laabei.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Bath. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Edward J. A. Douglas, Abdulaziz H. Alkhzem, Toska Wonfor, Shuxian Li, Timothy J. Woodman, Ian S. Blagbrough, Maisem Laabei. Antibacterial activity of novel linear polyamines against Staphylococcus aureus. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2022; 13 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.948343

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/10/221011125236.htm

Polio detected in 2 more New York counties; state disaster emergency extended

 Polio has been detected in a wastewater sample from Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens County from August, the New York State and City Departments of Health said Oct. 11.

The samples are genetically linked to the virus that paralyzed an unvaccinated man in Rockland County in July. A total of 70 sewage samples have been reported to contain the virus, CNBC reported Oct. 11.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state disaster emergency will remain in place at least through Nov. 8 after declaring an initial emergency Sept. 9. 

"These findings put an alarming exclamation point on what we have already observed: unvaccinated people are at a real and unnecessary risk," Mary Bassett, MD, PhD, New York state health commissioner, and Ashwin Vasan, MD, New York City health commissioner, said in a joint statement.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/polio-detected-in-2-more-new-york-counties-state-disaster-emergency-extended.html

'Medical Censorship': Dr. Peter McCullough Responds To Twitter Ban

 by Zachary Stieber and Steve Lance via The Epoch Times,

Dr. Peter McCullough says Twitter banned him despite there being no change in how he’s been posting on the Big Tech platform.

“Twitter claimed that I violated the community rules after thousands of consistent posts on scientific abstracts, and manuscripts. This was very carefully done. I was bringing the world the truth on pandemic response through the media and this was purely of the highest scientific integrity and analysis, and my tweeting pattern didn’t change,” McCullough told NTD’s “Capitol Report.”

According to images shared with the Epoch Media Group, which includes NTD, Twitter removed all of McCullough’s followers.

After McCullough’s legal team interacted with Twitter workers, “Twitter is backing off,” according to McCullough, though he has still not been restored to the social media website.

“They initially didn’t allow me to download the data. They wiped out all the users in my account, and now they’re backpedaling. We’ll see what happens this week. But this is just another example of medical censorship by Big Tech on doctors who have the freedom, according to the First Amendment, to express their scientific views through freedom of speech,” McCullough said.

McCullough, a former vice chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and now the chief medical adviser for the Truth for Health Foundation, said that he’s been providing updates on COVID-19 vaccines and related pandemic issues due to a feeling of responsibility.

“I felt I had the medical authority and professional responsibility to lead the nation. I’ve testified twice now in the U.S. Senate, multiple state senates. I’ve messaged the best I can through the peer reviewed literature as well as with podcasts and now Substack formats. People look to me for my analysis because I’ve been accurate and I’ve been conservative and reasonable in my statements,” he said. “And we haven’t seen any of that type of professional activity, any of that level of excellence, from our public health officials. They’ve let us down greatly.”

McCullough has already turned to Twitter competitors like Truth Social but is optimistic about Twitter as Tesla founder Elon Musk pursues a purchase of the platform.

“The Twitter story is not over. Elon Musk back on purchasing Twitter offers some hope that this really dark time of of censorship and Twitter manipulating people’s accounts to advance the government false narrative, hopefully, this era is coming to the close with the acquisition and new management of Twitter,” McCullough said.

McCullough, a cardiologist, has warned against the COVID-19 vaccines for months, pointing to studies that have found an elevated risk of post-vaccination heart inflammation and other serious conditions.

“Now we have hundreds of manuscripts published on myocarditis, heart inflammation,” McCullough added, indicating a recent paper that found a higher risk for young people after COVID-19 vaccination than after COVID-19 itself, and autopsies conducted on fatal cases of heart inflammation, some of which have suggested a causal link between the issues and the vaccines.

“So when we see young people now dying, unexpectedly dying, either during sports or during sleep, in my view it should be considered COVID-19 subclinical myocarditis and sudden cardiac death until proven otherwise,” McCullough said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/medical-censorship-dr-peter-mccullough-responds-twitter-ban 

Home health services patients sue HHS secretary over Medicare policy

 A lawsuit filed against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra alleges the policies maintained by his department are restricting access to home health aide services for Medicare beneficiaries who are disabled or live with chronic conditions.

The suit was filed by a group of Medicare beneficiaries across multiple states as well as some health care advocacy groups earlier this month.

The plaintiffs alleged that Becerra has “adopted policies and practices that impede and restrict the availability and accessibility of Medicare-covered home health aide services for eligible beneficiaries with chronic, disabling conditions.”

Under Medicare coverage, beneficiaries are eligible to receive up to 28 hours of home health services a week or even 35 hours a week in certain circumstances. While the eligibility to receive these services has remained unchanged, the lawsuit alleges that the actual services that are made available to beneficiaries have continued to drop over the years.

One of the plaintiffs, Catherine Johnson of Missouri, suffers from multiple sclerosis and complete quadriplegia. In January 2021, a Medicare-certified home health agency terminated the services it was providing to Johnson.

Although this decision was later deemed “improper,” Johnson has since experienced “erratic” and “unpredictable” care, at one point being admitted to a hospital where her condition is alleged to have deteriorated further.

Johnson has recently been paying out of pocket for care from a “Medicare-certified agency” event though she argues these services are eligible to be covered by Medicare.

“The Secretary has effectively redefined eligibility for Medicare-covered home health aide services to exclude people who require more than very minimal aide services for a short duration of time,” read the suit. “He thereby deprives these beneficiaries of necessary, Medicare-covered services for which they qualify and subjects them to discrimination on the basis of disability.”

As stated in the lawsuit, home health care agencies must meet conditions of participation in order to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries. However, the suit argues that Becerra’s “failure to oversee and enforce the Conditions of Participation” and other requirements have resulted in beneficiaries being unable to find home health agencies that are able to provide Medicare services.

These home health agencies are also disincentivize from accepting patients with disabilities or chronic conditions due to Medicare audits that could result in the return of “overpayments,” according to the lawsuit. At the same time, these agencies are allegedly not penalized for failing to provide necessary home health services.

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for their suit. They are also asking that the policies in effect under Becerra be declared in violation of Medicare’s statutes and regulations.

A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declined to comment when reached by The Hill, saying the agency “does not comment on pending litigation.”

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice voiced its support for the lawsuit, with the organization’s president, William Dombi, arguing that “decades of misguided policy changes” have eroded the benefits made available to Medicare beneficiaries.

“While the home health benefit includes 28-35 hours a week of medically necessary home health aide services, policy changes, arbitrary audit practices by Medicare contractors, and an endless series of payment rate cuts have made those rights a mere fiction,” Dombi said.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3682733-home-health-services-patients-sue-hhs-secretary-over-medicare-policy/

Fetterman discusses effects of stroke on daily life in new interview

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic nominee for Senate, told NBC News in an interview published Tuesday that his daily life has been significantly different since he had his stroke in May. 

“It changes everything. Everything about it is changed,” Fetterman told NBC’s Dasha Burns about his day-to-day experience. 

The interview, which will air in its entirety on “NBC Nightly News” on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., is Fetterman’s first conducted in person since he had his stroke days before winning the Democratic primary in May. 

Fetterman began giving interviews in July, but they have been conducted virtually. He said in his first interview after the stroke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he “feels really good,” but Fetterman’s health has become an issue on the campaign trail as his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, has argued that Fetterman has not been completely forthcoming about the status of his health. 

Fetterman told Burns that he still uses captioning to help him understand dialogue, and he sometimes misses a word. He said he will also occasionally “mush” two words together, but he was able to read immediately after the stroke and did not lose any memories. 

Fetterman answered questions from NBC orally after reading the captions on a computer screen. He said he is able to understand what is being asked as long as he has captioning. 

He said having the stroke made him more empathetic to the types of challenges that Americans face every day. 

Fetterman’s stroke gained a more prominent spotlight in the race after one of Oz’s aides mocked him for having it in August. 

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” said Oz’s senior communications adviser, Rachel Tripp. 

Oz has also criticized Fetterman for being slow to commit to meeting for a debate and suggested Fetterman might not have been transparent about his health status based on his hesitation. A debate is scheduled for Oct. 25. 

Fetterman said the stroke would not affect his ability to serve if he is elected to the Senate to succeed the retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R). He said he is going to continue to get better every day and will be “much better” by the time he would be sworn in in January. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3683383-fetterman-discusses-effects-of-stroke-on-daily-life-in-new-interview/

New rule opens ObamaCare subsidies to more families seeking coverage

 Nearly one million additional Americans will have access to ObamaCare subsidies next year under a final rule issued Tuesday by the Biden administration.

The rule fixes the so-called “family glitch,” a loophole in the health law that prevents family members from receiving ObamaCare subsidies if a household member has access to an affordable employer-sponsored health plan. 

An employer-sponsored plan is considered “affordable” if it costs the employee about 9.5 percent of his or her income for single coverage. 

But as written, the law did not take into account the increased premiums for adding family members onto the plan. That put coverage for many families out of reach. The rule from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service changes that threshold.

Democrats and health advocacy groups have long pushed for a fix, and health law experts said changing the statute is something the White House has the authority to do without Congress. 

Open enrollment for ObamaCare coverage in 2023 begins Nov. 1, so people signing up for coverage will be able to take advantage of the new policy. 

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual premium for a single worker was just over $7,700 in 2021 but topped $22,000 for a family. About 5 million Americans, mostly children, are impacted by the family glitch, KFF found, but not all of them will be eligible. 

“This marks the most significant administrative action to implement the Affordable Care Act since the law was first put into place,” President Biden said in a statement. 

The fix will mean the Affordable Care Act “works the way Congress intended and the cost of coverage comes down for families all over the country,” Biden said.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3683458-new-rule-opens-obamacare-subsidies-to-more-families-seeking-coverage/

One Type of Older Diabetes Drug Cuts Dementia Risk, Another Ups It

 Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), such as pioglitazone, appear to be protective against dementia whereas sulfonylureas appear to increase the risk, a new observational study in patients with type 2 diabetes suggests.

The data, obtained from nationwide electronic medical records from the US Veterans Affairs Administration, yielded a 22% lower risk of dementia with TZD monotherapy and a 12% elevated risk with sulfonylurea monotherapy, compared with metformin monotherapy. The apparent protective effects of TZDs were greater among individuals with overweight or obesity.

"Our findings provide additional information to aid clinicians' selection of [glucose-lowering medications] for patients with mild or moderate type 2 diabetes and [who] are at high risk of dementia," write Xin Tang and colleagues in their article published online October 11 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

The results, Tang and colleagues say, "add substantially to the literature concerning the effects of [glucose-lowering medications] on dementia where previous findings have been inconsistent. Studies with a follow-up time of less than 3 years have mainly reported null associations, while studies with longer a follow-up time typically yielded protective findings. With a mean follow-up time of 6.8 years, we had a sufficient duration to detect treatment differences."

"Supplementing [a] sulfonylurea with either metformin or [a] TZD may partially offset its prodementia effects. These findings may help inform medication selection for elderly patients with T2D at high risk of dementia," they observe.

Randomized Trials Needed to Determine Cause and Effect

Ivan Koychev, PhD, a senior clinical researcher in the department of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, told the UK Science Media Centre: "This is a large, well-conducted real-world data study that highlights the importance of checking whether already prescribed medications may be useful for preventing dementia."

The findings regarding TZDs, also known as glitazones, are in line with existing literature suggesting dementia protection with other drugs prescribed for type 2 diabetes that weren't examined in the current study, such as newer agents like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, Koychev said.

"The main limitations of this study is that following the initial 2-year period the authors were interested in, the participants may have been prescribed one of the other type 2 diabetes drugs (GLP-1 agonists or SGLT2 inhibitors) that have been found to reduce dementia risk, thus potentially making the direct glitazone [TZD] effect more difficult to discern," Koychev noted.

And, he pointed out that the study design limits attribution of causality. "It is also important to note that people with type 2 diabetes do run a higher risk of both dementia and cognitive deficits and that these medications are only prescribed in these patients, so all this data is from this patient group rather than the general population."

James Connell, PhD, head of translational science at Alzheimer's Research UK, agreed. "While this observational study found that those with type 2 diabetes taking thiazolidinedione had a lower dementia risk than those on the most common medication for type 2 diabetes, it only shows an association between taking the drug and dementia risk and not a causal relationship." 

"Double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to see whether the drug [TDZ] could help lower dementia risk in people with and without diabetes. Anyone with any questions about what treatments they are receiving should speak to their doctor," he told the UK Science Media Centre.

Opposite Effects of Sulfonylureas, TZDs Versus Metformin

Tang, of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Tucson, and colleagues studied 559,106 VA patients with type 2 diabetes who initiated glucose-lowering medication during 2001-2017 and took it for at least a year. They were aged 60 years or older and did not have dementia at baseline. Most were White (76.8%) and male (96.9%), two thirds (63.1%) had obesity, and mean A1c was 6.8%.

Overall, 31,125 developed all-cause dementia. The incidence rate was 8.2 cases per 1000 person-years, ranging from 6.2 cases per 1000 person-years among those taking metformin monotherapy to 13.4 cases per 1000 person-years in those taking both sulfonylurea and a TZD.

Compared with metformin monotherapy, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause dementia for sulfonylurea monotherapy was a significant 1.12. The increased risk was also seen for vascular dementia, with an HR of 1.14.

In contrast, TZD monotherapy was associated with a significantly lower risk for all-cause dementia (HR, 0.78), as well as for Alzheimer's disease (HR, 0.89) and vascular dementia (HR, 0.43), compared with metformin monotherapy.

The combination of metformin and TZD also lowered the risk of all-cause dementia, while regimens including sulfonylureas raised the risks for all-cause and vascular dementia.

Most of the results didn't change significantly when the drug exposure window was extended to 2 years.

Effects More Pronounced in Those With Obesity

The protective 1-year effects of TZD monotherapy and of metformin plus TZD compared to metformin alone were more significant among participants aged 75 or younger and with a body mass index (BMI) above 25 kg/m² compared with those who were older than 75 years and with normal BMIs, respectively.

On the other hand, the greater risk for dementia incurred with sulfonylureas was further increased among those with higher BMI.

This research was partially funded by grants from the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Zhou had no further disclosures. Koychev is chief investigator for a trial, sponsored by Oxford University and funded by Novo Nordisk, testing whether the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide reduces the risk for dementia in aging adults.

BMJ Open Diab Res Care. 2022;10:e002894. Full text

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/982256