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LA JOLLA LIGHT - SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 - Page a19
Find may help overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Research Report
By Lynne FriedmAnn
Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have successfully reengineered the antibi-
otic vancomycin to kill the deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The walls of bacteria are made of a complex material called peptidoglycan. Vancomycin acts against bacteria by grabbing onto peptidoglycan, rendering it useless, and ultimately killing the pathogen. Unfortunately, bacteria have found a way to alter the peptidoglycan molecule so that what once attracted vancomycin now repels the antibiotic thus preventing binding. But two can play at this game and in so doing TSRI chemists
achieved a double victory. Researchers successfully altered vancomycin to be attracted to peptidoglycan in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and, in addition, the redesigned vancomycin maintains its ability to bind to wild-type peptidoglycan. Results are published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. News release at http://bit.ly/qyMZMx.
Protection from colitis Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), affects more than 1 million
Many La Jolla teens still need whooping cough booster
Education Matters By mArshA sutton As students in the San Diego Unified School District prepare to return to school on Sept. 6, a new requirement for admittance still needs to be met by about one-third of the district’s 60,000 seventhto 12th-graders, according to the latest information from local officials. Assembly Bill 354, signed into law September 2010, requires all incoming students in grades 7-12 to show proof of having received the Tdap whooping cough booster shot by the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Acceptable proof is a copy of immunization records or a note from the student’s doctor. As of Aug. 18, about 21,000 SDUSD students still need to show proof. At La Jolla High School, 335 students out of a total enrollment of about 1,650 have not met the requirement, although these figures do not reflect students registering for school in the past two weeks who may have recently submitted their booster documentation. At Muirlands Middle
School, 541 students have not met the requirement. The school’s total enrollment is about 1,100 for grades 6-8, or about 370 per grade. Only students in middle school entering seventh and eighth grades are required to receive the Tdap booster, which means 541 students out of about 740 still need to show proof.
Numbers still changing SDUSD communications director Linda Zintz said these numbers for both La Jolla schools are the latest official numbers but are not quite up to date, with nurses processing Tdap paperwork daily. She said the news has been widely disseminated to parents, beginning last spring, through e-mails, newsletters, school websites, the district website, school marquees, automated robo-calls and other methods of communication. Another round of emails and telephone calls is planned for this week, to all the remaining students who have not yet met the requirement. “We’re letting them know about the new law and what their responsibility is and when it’s going to take effect,” Zintz said. Although parents are being told that students need proof of the booster by the start of school, passage of a second bill, Senate Bill 614, grants districts the option to extend the deadline for 30 more days from
patients in North America. The condition is prompted by different cytokines — small signaling proteins — that activate the immune system, causing chronic inflammation. Researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have discovered that expression of a newly identified human cytokine — Interleukin 37 (IL-37) — protects mice from colitis, by downgrading inflammation. This is significant because IL-37 is a member of the IL-1 family and most molecules in the IL-1 family appear to promote an inflammatory response. IL-37 does
the opposite. Once the mechanism of IL-37 action is understood, scientists hope one day to engineer cells to overproduce IL-37 in order to treat or control an overactive immune system in humans. The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). News release at http://bit.ly/pqsIHX. ■ For more go www.lajollalight.com. — Lynne Friedmann is a science writer based in Solana Beach.
Grass fire put out in Bird Rock
For More ■ The district’s website at
www.sandi.net has the latest information.
■ San Diego Immunization Program Web site atwww.sdiz. org offers links to resources and services for the Tdap and other vaccinations. ■ And there’s more at the California Department of Public Health sites: www.shotsforschool.org and www.getimmunizedca.org. the first day of school, making the actual deadline in SDUSD Oct. 6. “They do have the 30day option, but our message is for them not to wait, to do it now,” Zintz said. “We all understand it’s human nature to put things off, so we don’t want parents to wait until Oct. 5 to take care of it.” Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, has encouraged parents to vaccinate their children as soon as possible, to avoid long lines and difficulty getting appointments at the last minute. Zintz said significant progress is being made during these final weeks of registration, noting a marked increase in the required paperwork as the start of school draws closer.
■ For more go www.lajollalight.com
A fire burns monday night near Linda rosa Avenue in Bird rock. A grass fire Monday evening on a Bird Rock hillside was put out before any structures were seriously threatened, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque, who added the following morning that arson was the suspected cause of the blaze. Although some neighbors had heard that homes were involved, he said the fire was contained to the hillside near Linda Rosa Avenue and La Jolla Corona. It was reported at 7:04 p.m. Helicopters made several water drops on
the fire, a resident reported. By 8 p.m. units were being released from the fire, which was north of a spot where homes were threatened on July 4th weekend. The fire quickly grew to football field size six minutes after it began, threatening nearby structures. Firefighters quickly began fire protection for nearby property.
From Fox, A18 relationships to support student scholarship and fellowships and faculty research, which has the potential to save lives and improve our world. And it includes engagement in personal, mentoring relationships, to provide guidance and support and wisdom of experience. I urge you to get involved—as a mentor, a partner or an advocate. Write to your legis-
lators and let them know of your support for higher education. Talk with young children about the importance of education and going to college. Contribute to a scholarship fund. Join with UC San Diego and become a partner in the future of our campus and the state of California. By supporting our students and our world-class university, you can help shape a brighter future for us all.
— City News Service contributed to this report.