Microbial Resistance, AIDS Hot Topics at Disease Conference

The growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and strategies to fight AIDS will be among the top agenda items for the 46th annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which meets Sept. 27-30 in San Francisco. Approximately 20,000 physicians and researchers -- about 80 percent from the United States and 20 percent from abroad -- are expected to attend, said Jim Sliwa, spokesperson for the American Society for Microbiology.

This year's ICAAC conference "covers the entire gamut on infectious diseases," said Sliwa. Investigators will be especially interested in developments regarding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), said Sliwa. Of 300,000 staph infections acquired in U.S. hospitals each year, CDC figures show 12,000 were MRSA-related infections resulting in death.

On Wednesday, the conference will feature a presentation on the next 10 years of the AIDS epidemic delivered by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Multi-drug resistance "is a very serious issue," said Fauci. "That's the reason why we need to have a pipeline of new drugs, because we know we are going to end up getting into retroviral resistance." But there is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop new agents, considering the lack of research funds available at the university and federal level, he said.

Back to other news for September 27, 2006