Scientists hail new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

[Retro]

Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been on the rise for decades* where we're now at the point that sometimes an infection cannot be treated, effectively taking hospitals back to the Victorian age, with the result that the patient suffers greatly and can even die. It's a massive problem that seems to have low awareness among the public, so this breakthrough is incredibly important.

Zosurabalpin has defeated strains of pneumonia and sepsis in mice, raising hopes for human trials
Linda Geddes Science correspondent
Wed 3 Jan 2024 16.00 GMT
Last modified on Wed 3 Jan 2024 20.18 GMT

Scientists have discovered an entirely new class of antibiotic that appears to kill one of three bacteria considered to pose the greatest threat to human health because of their extensive drug-resistance.

Zosurabalpin defeated highly drug-resistant strains of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (Crab) in mouse models of pneumonia and sepsis, and was being tested in human trials.

Crab is classified as a priority 1 critical pathogen by the World Health Organization, alongside two other drug-resistant forms of bacteria – Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae.

Scientists hail new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Zosurabalpin has defeated strains of pneumonia and sepsis in mice, raising hopes for human trials

www.theguardian.com

*Much of it having to do with antibiotics being used improperly, such as them being sold like Smarties in some countries for anything and everything when they're not needed, which only fuels the evolution of drug resistant bacteria, causing this problem to accelerate massively. Using them against viruses for example, is really bad since they don't work on those and their use only fuels that evolution each time. Only antiviral drugs developed for specific viruses can work and even that isn't guaranteed.

 

[Retro]

Scientists and pharma need to get on with rolling this out as antibiotic resistant superbugs are becoming a serious problem worldwide. They're not just an inconvenience either, but lead to thousands of avoidable deaths and make routine operations very risky for infection. Basically, they threaten to send everyday, and critically important, medical treatment back to the 1800s, the Victorian age and that's a Bad Thing.

Dame Sally Davies has a straightforward message about the coming year. We face a growing antibiotic emergency that could have devastating impacts on men, women and children across the globe, she says.

Davies, a former chief medical officer for England, has become a leading advocate for global action to fight the scourge of superbugs.

She told the Observer that there is a real danger that routine procedures – from surgery to childbirth – could carry widespread life-threatening risks because of the spread of bacteria that possess antimicrobial resistance (AMR). “About a million people die every year because of the spread of microbial resistance, and that figure will rise over the next 25 years,” she said. “It is really scary.”

Antibiotic emergency ‘could claim 40 million lives in next 25 years’

As superbugs spread across the globe, death rates from antimicrobial resistance are set to double, says England’s former chief medical officer

www.theguardian.com