According to the CDC, "more than 70% of the bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections are resistant to at least one of the drugs most commonly used to treat them", prompting them to launch a campaign to prevent antimicrobial resistance in healthcare and community settings. In a recent AP report, the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Anitbiotics urged the FDA to ban the use of antibacterial soaps for household use, saying that the practice contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance. All these are indicators of just how big a problem antibiotic resistance is becoming.

Staphylococcal infections, in particular, are gaining ground in acquiring antibiotic resistance. While most staph infections such as boils and acne may be treated without the use of antibiotics, strains that have developed resistance to antibacterial compounds such as penicillin or beta-lactams and vancomycin-intermediates make more serious cases of staph infections such as bloodstream or post-surgical infections difficult to treat, possibly even fatal.

Thus, along with such campaigns, the hunt for novel antibiotics are as frantic as ever. In the October 2005 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, researchers may have discovered a compound that has potential use as a topical antibiotic. A novel methionyl-tRNA inhibitor, REP8839, proved effective against against Staphylococcus aureus and S. pyogenes, including strains resistant to methicillin, mupirocin, vancomycin, and linezolid.

Researchers say, "The compound is currently in preclinical development as a topical antibiotic for the treatment of skin infections and for the eradication of nasal carriage of S. aureus."

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