Superbug News and Research

RSS

C. auris in Ear Canals of Stray Dogs Could Pose Risk to Humans

Researchers from McMaster University and the University of Delhi in India have isolated and identified the first live culture of the drug-resistant pathogen Candida auris from an animal, particularly from the ear canals of stray dogs.

10 Jul 2023

Researchers Discover How Deadly Hospital Pathogen can Survive Harsh Environments

The deadly hospital pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii can live for a year on a hospital wall without food and water. Then, when it infects a vulnerable patient, it resists antibiotics as well as the body's built-in infection-fighting response.

17 May 2023

New method to treat MRSA infections with penicillin-type drugs

Researchers from the University of Galway have reported a new discovery that could enhance treatment options for superbug MRSA infections using penicillin-type antibiotics that have proven ineffective on their own.

18 Jan 2023

Research findings provide clues on the properties that might have made A. baumannii a successful pathogen

Over 670,000 people in Europe become ill each year as a result of pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, and 33,000 people die as a result of the diseases they cause. Pathogens that are resistant to multiple antibiotics at the same time are particularly dangerous.

6 Jun 2022

Researchers highlight a phage-antibiotic combo against antibiotic-resistant superbug

A preclinical study performed by Monash University researchers discovered that utilizing a combination of phages and antibiotics to treat bacterial infections may be considerably more successful than using the drugs separately.

12 May 2022

Scientists reveal the spectacular structure of C.difficile's protective armor

The spectacular structure of the protective armor of superbug C.difficile has been revealed for the first time showing the close-knit yet flexible outer layer – like chain mail.

From Newcastle University 28 Feb 2022

Superbug MRSA emerged in hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics in humans

Scientists have found evidence that a type of the antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which has traditionally been blamed for its emergence.

6 Jan 2022

New Cornell study finds potential treatment for MRSA ‘superbug’

A new Cornell study has found the antimicrobial properties of certain stem cell proteins could offer a potential treatment to reduce infection in skin wounds.

17 Sep 2021

New transferrable and integrative type I CRISPR-based platform to efficiently edit superbugs

A research team led by Dr Aixin YAN, Associate Professor from the Research Division for Molecular & Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, in collaboration with Honorary Clinical Professor Patrick CY WOO from the Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, reported the development of a transferrable and integrative type I CRISPR-based platform.

23 Jul 2021

Study holds phages responsible for superbug emergence

Scientists unraveled that phages are responsible for the initiation of rapid bacterial evolution that leads to the rise of treatment-resistant “superbugs.”

From University of Pittsburgh 21 Jul 2021

New MRSA superbug tactic could boost vaccine development

A new study has discovered a novel tactic used by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus to resist the immune response, boosting hopes that a vaccine to prevent lethal MRSA infections is closer than previously thought.

25 Jun 2021

Synthetic cannabidiol can kill bacteria that causes gonorrhoea

Synthetic cannabidiol, commonly called CBD, has been demonstrated to destroy the bacteria that cause meningitis, gonorrhea, and Legionnaires’ disease.

21 Jan 2021

Researchers discover how antibiotic resistance genes spread via plasmids

For the first time, researchers have discovered how antibiotic resistance genes are spreading, at a continental scale, via bacterial plasmids in the hospital superbug, Klebsiella pneumoniae.

25 Sep 2020

Synthetic peptide makes multidrug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a synthetic peptide that can make multidrug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics again when used together with traditional antibiotics, offering hope for the prospect of a combination treatment strategy to tackle certain antibiotic-tolerant infections.

7 Aug 2020

Unique method could help fight antibiotic resistance

A new method developed by researchers at the University of Exeter could help decrease the prescription of antibiotics by estimating the drugs that could be effective in combating bacteria within a few minutes.

From University of Exeter 6 Jul 2020

C. difficile hijacks the wound healing system to cause serious and persistent disease

Monash University researchers have discovered that the devastating bacterial superbug Clostridioides difficile hijacks the human wound healing system in order to cause serious and persistent disease, opening up the development of new therapies to treat the disease.

26 Jun 2020

Leap Forward In The Discovery And Development Of New Antibiotics

A powerful new insight, linked to recent studies, has provided a new understanding of Glycopeptide antibiotics biosynthesis that allows new GPAs to be made.

18 May 2020

New antimicrobial peptide proves more effective in fighting drug-resistant bacteria

Through serendipity, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health considerably reduced the toxicity of a potential antibiotic against the most feared drug-resistant bacteria, while also improving its stability in fighting infections.

4 May 2020