Connect with us

Health

New antibiotic gel may cure ear infections in children

Published

on

New antibiotic gel may cure ear infections in childrenNew York : A single dose of a bioengineered gel, developed by US researchers, could deliver a full course of antibiotic therapy for a common childhood ear infection, a preclinical study has found.

Middle-ear infection, or otitis media, is an ear infection that is usually caused by bacteria or viruses.

Common symptoms include ear pain and fever and in some cases, it may also cause drainage of fluid from the ear or hearing loss. Although most ear infections go away on their own, some require antibiotics.

As high doses of oral antibiotics are needed to get to the ear, side effects like diarrhea, rashes and oral thrush are common.

“With oral antibiotics, you have to treat the entire body repeatedly just to get to the middle ear,” said Rong Yang, Ph.D., a chemical engineer at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts, US.

However, “with the gel, a paediatrician can administer the entire antibiotic course all at once, and only where it’s needed,” Yang said.

Squirted into the ear canal, the gel quickly hardens and stays in place, gradually dispensing antibiotics across the eardrum into the middle ear.

“Our technology gets things across the eardrum that don’t usually get across in sufficient quantity to be therapeutic,” added Daniel Kohane from Boston Children’s Hospital.

Previously, the eardrum (also called the tympanic membrane) was an impenetrable barrier, but the bioengineered gel gets drugs past it with the help of chemical permeation enhancers (CPEs).

The CPEs insert themselves into the membrane, opening up molecular pores that allow the antibiotics to seep through to the eardrum’s outermost layer.

“Transtympanic delivery of antibiotics to the middle ear has the potential to enable children to benefit from the rapid antibacterial activity of antimicrobial agents without systemic exposure and could reduce emergence of resistant microbes,” noted Stephen Pelton, paediatrician at Boston Medical Center.

The findings, published by the journal Science Translational Medicine, have led to better, easier and potentially safer treatment for middle ear infections, the researchers concluded.

Continue Reading

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

Published

on

 

Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

Continue Reading

Trending