Superbug

Antibiotic resistance: C. difficile superbug has protective protein coat like chain mail

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The outer coat of the antibiotic-resistant bacterium Clostridium difficile has a structure similar to chain mail that stops drugs and immune system cells from killing it Health 25 February 2022 By Carissa Wong The outer proteins of Clostridium difficile form a structure like chain mail Newcastle University A bacterium called Clostridium difficile is known as … Read more

Phage therapy: Treatment for superbug infections is being tested in Belgium

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Bacteria-killing viruses can be used to treat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and the approach has been tried in more than 100 people in Belgium since a 2019 change in regulations Health 18 January 2022 By Michael Le Page Illustration of bacteriophage viruses attacking a bacterium iLexx/Getty Images The use of bacteria-killing viruses known as phages to treat … Read more

Origins of Drug-Resistant Superbug Weren’t What We Thought, Surprise Discovery Shows

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An evolutionary battle between fungi and bacteria on hedgehogs’ skin gave rise to a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria long before humans started using the antibiotics that were thought to lead to such superbugs, a new study reveals.   Researchers traced some lineages of the superbug MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, to a parasitic fungus found … Read more