Posted on 06/18/2014 5:56:17 PM PDT by blam
Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph
June. 18, 2014
The global threat of antibiotic resistance could finally be tackled after British scientists discovered a chink in the armour of deadly bacteria.
Health experts have warned that within 20 years even routine operations like hip replacements and organ transplants could be deadly because of the risk of infection.
But now scientists at the University of East Anglia have discovered how the bug responsible for E-coli and salmonella builds an impenetrable wall to keep out antibiotics.
They believe that within a few years they could develop a drug which switches off the wall-building mechanism, making the bacteria vulnerable.
“It is a very significant breakthrough,” said Professor Changjiang Dong, from the University of East Anglia's (UAE) Norwich Medical School.
“This is really important because drug-resistant bacteria is a global health problem. Many current antibiotics are becoming useless, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year.
“Many bacteria build up an outer defence which is important for their survival and drug resistance. We have found away to stop that happening.
"The number of superbugs are increasing at an unexpected rate. This research provides the platform for urgently-needed new generation drugs."
The discovery, reported in Nature journal, could pave the way to a new generation of antibiotic drugs that work by bringing down the defensive wall.
Bugs such as MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are becoming increasingly immune to "last resort" antibiotics.
If the trend continues the world may see a return to the pre-antibiotic era when even a trivial scratch could prove fatal.
At the heart of the breakthrough is the way "gram negative" bacterial cells transport the barrier's molecular "bricks" to the surface of the cell and form a wall.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Oh Boy! That whole University of East Anglia worked out well with Climate Change thin gee!
Pardon my absolute distrust of anything they say.
I certainly hope that an appropriate percentage of the researchers were “of color.”
All the scientists have to do is talk to the pols in Wash DC. They switched off the "wall building mechanism" years ago.
We nearly lost our daughter to antibiotic resistant strep. We didn’t breed it in her. She caught the bug at school. After a week in the ICU on the ‘last resort’ drug, they removed her tonsils and closed the gateway to the bug. (This bug led us directly to homeschooling. She simply missed too much to catch up.)
That was more than 15 years ago. It’s a serious problem that can get any one of us. I hope and pray that this breakthrough is real.
Excellent. Lets hope this isn’t one of those great discoveries that once heralded, is never heard about again.
They were all Arabs. Just ask Obama.
Racist bastards!
East Anglia?
Ho boy. Let’s hope this isn’t some BS to cover the shame from their last media exposure.
If true, excellent. But they haven’t exactly earned any respect as scientists.
Time for some peer review to check those results. Better make that a lot of peer review.
Would this be like the light responsible for the sun and the moon, which I guess was Cher's theory?
Yeah, I'll pass.
Unlike for globull warming, this one is going to get scrutinized eight ways from Sunday.
I hope yes they did find something good here. Medicine is not earth science. If it is baloney, however, it will be that many more nails in the lid of the coffin of their credibility.
My son damned near died TWICE in 1994 and 1996 and was constantly doing 105, in the interim. We spent more time in hospitals in Emergency Rooms and as patients for two to three weeks! I had to scream and yell and be a complete bitch..they were pumping him of anti biotics like crazy.
Went postal and made them take his adenoids out in 96, they would not take his tonsils even though I begged!
He has had minor issues due to the stupid tonsils since.
But healthy as a horse!
Pediatricians were sold a lot of b/s.
Back in the day my Dad routinely removed T/A..tonsils and adenoids at 3-4 years.
We really never got sick, except me, I was two and he thought I was too young.
I had constant tonsillitis til 40.
Antibiotics serve well for real infections.
We should go back to the 60’s and use some common sense.
Lawyers created this nightmare!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.