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May 1, 2013 Consumer Reports found that turkey meat that came from birds raised without antibiotics was significantly less likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, compared with meat from conventional turkeys that were given antibiotics. But turkey producers contend that they use antibiotics judiciously to help keep their flocks healthy.

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April 10, 2013 Both fruits are vulnerable to a nasty disease called fire blight that can devastate orchards. So organic labeling standards allow for antibiotics to be used on apple and pear trees. That exemption is set to end in 2014 — but growers say they need a little more time.

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March 5, 2013 Federal health officials warned that a dangerous group of superbugs has become increasingly common in hospitals throughout the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bacteria are resistant to virtually all antibiotics, including the ones doctors use as a last-ditch option.

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February 25, 2013 The new guidelines for treating childhood ear infections are intended to reduce unnecessary antibiotics use. They say doctors should look at the eardrum to make sure a child really has an ear infection, instead of relying on symptoms. And if the child doesn't have severe symptoms, see if the ear gets better on its own.

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January 30, 2013 Before penicillin was found to be effective against syphilis during World War II, sex brought with it the risk of syphilis, an disease that can cause blindness, dementia and paralysis. An economist argues that treatment was a key factor in the sexual revolution.

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December 10, 2012 About 10 years ago, some nasty bacteria became impervious to some common classes of antibiotics. Scientists have sequenced genome samples of this superbug from all over the world. The results helped them figured out how it emerged in the U.S. and then moved to Europe, Australia and Asia.

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August 22, 2012 Two studies suggest that antibiotics early in life may contribute to childhood weight gain. Experiments in mice and a look at the weight of more than 11,500 British babies point in the same direction.

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July 9, 2012 A protein in silk could help stabilize vaccines and medicines. Researchers at Tufts University have found a little bit of the protein can help preserve heat-sensitive medicines that usually require refrigeration.

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June 29, 2012 Tests that take hours instead of days can help doctors make a better diagnosis of infectious diseases. The results can help them decide which antibiotic to use, and which one to keep in reserve.

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May 23, 2012 Clostridium difficile is a nasty bacterial infection that used to strike mainly older hospitalized patients taking antibiotics. In findings presented at a conference this week, Mayo Clinic researchers say it's now cropping up in communities, and infecting children.

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April 11, 2012 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will collaborate with the livestock industry to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal feed. But activists say a voluntary approach won't go nearly far enough to protect human health.

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April 6, 2012 A team of researchers in the U.K. say antibiotics might be an effective alternative in uncomplicated cases of acute appendicitis. But there's concern that symptoms may show up later.

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March 23, 2012 Yesterday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a 1977 plan to outlaw the use of certain antibiotics as growth promotion drugs for livestock. American farmers are unsure about how this could impact their industry, but there's a real-world example that provides some answers: Europe, and specifically Denmark.

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February 21, 2012 Researchers have shown how a bacterium resistant to antibiotic treatment passed from humans to pigs to humans. And now the new resistant human bug appears to be spreading beyond people with direct exposure to livestock.

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