Latest news with #antibioticresistance
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Could a powerful new antibiotic be lurking in your back garden? As pilgrims flock to Northern Irish holy site for 'healing soil', scientists reveal secrets that could help us beat the resistance crisis
For hundreds of years, people have flocked to a churchyard in a small village in Northern Ireland to gather handfuls of soil known for its healing properties. Locals believe wrapping dirt from the Sacred Heart Church in Boho, County Fermanagh, in a cloth and applying it to the skin can cure ailments, from toothache to throat infections. And, in 2018, when scientists ran checks on the soil, they found something extraordinary. It contained a previously undiscovered strain of a family of bacteria called Streptomyces. Many bacteria naturally produce 'home-made' antibiotics to attack other bugs competing for resources – but Streptomyces are among the most prolific. Because of this, scientists have been using previously discovered strains for decades to produce antibiotics, such as erythromycin (used to treat everything from chest infections to acne). But when scientists tested the new strain of Streptomyces, they found it produced a compound that was able to kill bacteria that had become resistant to existing antibiotics – raising hopes that it could ultimately help combat antibiotic resistance. Resistance has emerged because of overuse – and misuse – in medicine and farming. The World Health Organisation calls it 'one of the biggest threats to global health today'. The resistant bugs the new antibiotic were able to destroy included both MRSA and those already immune to vancomycin, widely regarded as the antibiotic of last resort. Dr Gerry Quinn, a microbiologist at the University of Ulster, and one of the team which found the new antibiotic lurking in the soil, says the bacteria that produce it – which researchers named Streptomyces sp. myrophorea – is common in the limestone hills surrounding the churchyard in Boho. Its presence here and in other limestone-rich areas of the world, he believes, may partly explain why certain sites of religious significance spring up where they do. Dr Quinn told Good Health: 'Even if you look at places like Lourdes [a Catholic pilgrimage site in France, where the water is said to have healing properties] or Medjugorje [a similar site in Bosnia and Herzegovina], the same kind of geology exists where you can find these organisms.' In a paper published in the Journal of Religion and Health earlier this year, Dr Quinn cites numerous examples where, according to folklore, soil is believed to have powerful infection-fighting qualities – he is convinced that such locations could be a goldmine in the search for new medicines. And potential new antibiotics are being uncovered in other unlikely places. Scientists at McMaster University in Canada revealed in April that they had found a possible candidate in the back garden of one of the researchers. Called lariocidin, it was cultivated from a soil sample that contained bacteria called paenibacillus, which can trigger urinary and skin infections and endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart), reported the journal Nature. What made lariocidin so exciting was that it had a completely different mode of action from most antibiotics – which usually attack the wall or coating surrounding the bacteria. Lariocidin instead binds to a receptor on the bacteria and stops it from reading its own genetic instructions on how to survive and reproduce – killing it rapidly. In tests, lariocidin destroyed a bug called mycobacteria, which causes tuberculosis. The McMaster team are now looking at how lariocidin might be developed into a medicine. Many drug companies have pulled out of antibiotic research because of the difficulties they face developing drugs that won't rapidly become ineffective due to resistance – costing them money. But if bacteria can so easily become resistant to antibiotic drugs used in humans, why doesn't the same happen when they encounter natural antibiotics in the ground or in water? The answer, says Paul Dyson, a professor of molecular microbiology at Swansea University, is that 'bacteria in soil are constantly exposed to a range of different antibiotics produced by rival organisms. They might in theory evolve resistance to one of those but they don't stand a chance fighting off all of them.' He adds: 'Yet in medicine we usually only treat patients with one single antibiotic at a time. 'If we routinely gave all patients two different antibiotics instead of one, it would mean the bacteria would have to evolve resistance to both – which is much less likely to happen.' Rather than increase resistance, this strategy would, he believes, reduce the problem. In a 2021 study at Emory University in the US, scientists tested two antibiotics together – streptomycin and nalidixic acid – against and found the bug was less likely to develop resistance when the drugs were given in combination, rather than individually, reported the journal PNAS. Meanwhile, Dr Quinn says: 'We are reaching a crisis in antibiotic therapy. But I'm confident that exploring how these antibiotics work in their natural environment in the soil will help us to crack the drug resistance problem.' ... and check your bird bath for clues too! Several initiatives aimed at discovering new antibiotics lurking in the soil or water are utilising the help of the British public. One called Antibiotics Unearthed, encourages people to collect soil samples from different locations (such as forests), which are then tested for potential new antibiotics by scientists in the lab. A similar scheme – Citizen Phage – is recruiting volunteers to collect water samples from rivers, bird baths and garden ponds to be tested for the presence of phages (viruses capable of destroying bacteria). Researchers at Exeter University, writing in the journal Microorganisms last year, described how water samples sent in by the public produced new phages capable of destroying Klebsiella pneumoniae – a common cause of urinary tract and chest infections and a bug that is increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Deadly illness that kills 110,000 a year rapidly becoming resistant to antibiotics in terrifying mutation
An ancient killer has become all the more dangerous with time, mutating often to better sidestep medications. The bacterium that causes typhoid fever, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S Typhi), has evolved to resist common antibiotics. In 2022, a group of researchers from around the world identified more than 4,000 strains obtained from blood samples from over 70 countries as extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Typhi. Drug-resistant strains have spread from country to country around 200 times since 1990. People infected with resistant typhoid carry it to new countries, while the global food trade spreads resistant bacteria to dense cities with poor sanitation accelerates the spread. Researchers warned that the most commonly used antibiotics, including Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, and Azithromycin, may not save patients' lives like they used to. Approximately 5,700 Americans become ill each year, and 620 are hospitalized. Deaths from typhoid fever in the US are very infrequent. Dr Jason Andrews, a specialist in infectious diseases at Stanford University and lead author of the report, said the breakneck pace at which S. Typhi is spreading 'is a real cause for concern.' Typhoid fever sickens 11million people every year, causing fever, abdominal pain, and, if left untreated, intestinal bleeding and sepsis. It kills about 100,000 people annually. Around one in five people who are not treated for typhoid will die. When the genes of a strain of bacteria mutate to resist antibiotics, doctors have far fewer treatment options when patients present with typhoid symptoms. Researchers analyzed the genetics of over 7,600 samples of S. Typhi, including 3,489 samples from individuals with typhoid in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan from 2014 to 2019. They also looked at 4,169 older samples from more than 70 countries, some dating back to 1905. They pored over the bacteria's genetic blueprint to identify genes that can change the bacterial protein that antibiotics usually attack. This causes the bacteria to make enzymes that break down the drug, eject antibiotics before they work, or use alternative biochemical pathways. The team warned that typhoid-causing bacteria are mutating so rapidly that modern medicine can't keep up, stating that by the time scientists decide to use vaccines based on today's resistance data, it may already be too late. South Asia is a hotspot where resistance continues to develop and then spreads globally. Since 1990, strains resistant to the antibiotic class quinolones have evolved independently at least 94 times, with 97 percent of these cases originating in South Asia, specifically in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. What began as localized resistance, affecting 85 percent of Bangladeshi typhoid cases by the early 2000s, exploded across the region, surpassing a 95 percent prevalence in India, Pakistan, and Nepal within a decade. The pattern repeats with newer drugs. Azithromycin resistance has emerged seven times since 2003, with Bangladeshi strains steadily proliferating since 2013, while resistance to last-line antibiotics cephalosporins now looms as the next frontier in the escalating crisis. While these strains most often occur within South Asia and spread from there to Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Southern Africa, they have also been reported in the US, UK and Canada. Dr Andrew said: 'The fact resistant strains of S. Typhi have spread internationally so many times also underscores the need to view typhoid control, and antibiotic resistance more generally, as a global rather than local problem.' The research was published in The Lancet Microbe journal. Typhoid is rare in the US, and cases typically arise after a person has traveled internationally. It primarily affects people in areas with poor sanitation, and children under five are more susceptible. In 2018, a Massachusetts daycare center temporarily closed after a child was diagnosed with typhoid, likely contracted during recent international travel. Typhoid fever spreads through fecal-oral transmission, meaning people ingest the bacteria Salmonella Typhi from food, water, or surfaces that have come in contact with fecal matter, such as eating food handled by someone with typhoid who didn't wash their hands after using the bathroom. The study has some gaps that need to be considered. Researchers lacked sufficient genetic data from key regions, particularly parts of Africa and Oceania, where typhoid is prevalent. Without more samples from these areas, it is more difficult to track how and when resistant strains spread. Even in countries with better monitoring, most samples are collected from just a few locations, which may not accurately reflect what is happening elsewhere. And since only a small fraction of typhoid cases get genetically tested, the true scale of antibiotic resistance and global spread is probably even worse than the numbers show. Researchers said THIS highlights the need 'to expand genomic surveillance to provide a more comprehensive window into the emergence, expansion, and spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms.'
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Many UTI hospital admissions could be prevented, according to experts
One in three hospital trips for urinary tract infections (UTIs) could potentially be avoided, experts have said. It comes as new data suggests UTIs cost NHS hospitals in England an estimated £604 million in 2023/24. Admissions increased by 9% during the year compared with the previous 12 months, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UTIs can affect the bladder, urethra or kidneys, and can include symptoms such as pain while peeing, blood in the pee, and pain in the tummy or back. The infections are usually caused by bacteria from poo entering the urinary tract. UKHSA analysis of the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database found there were 189,759 hospital admissions relating to UTIs in England in 2023/24. This resulted in 1.2 million NHS bed days, averaging six bed days per infection. However, a third of UTI patients were in hospital for less than a day, meaning other treatment options could be considered, according to the UKHSA. Dr Colin Brown, deputy director at UKHSA responsible for antibiotic resistance, said: 'Urinary tract infections are a major cause of hospitalisations in this country, but many could be prevented.' The figures also show hospital admissions for UTIs increased up by 9% in 2023/24 compared with the previous year. However, levels are still below those seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. More than half of all UTI admissions (52.7%) included in the data were patients aged over 70, and more than six in 10 (61.8%) were women. Women were nearly five times more likely to need hospital treatment for a UTI in people under the age of 50. To avoid catching a UTI, experts advise people to drink enough fluid regularly, avoid holding in pee, wash daily, keep the genital areas clean and dry and wipe from front to back when on the toilet to avoid bacteria spreading. Dr Brown said: 'We know that the most serious consequences that come from UTIs are more common in people over the age of 50 so we are reminding this group in particular to be aware of the ways they can help reduce their risk of getting poorly. 'Drinking enough fluids is so important, as well as avoiding holding onto pee. If you have frequent UTIs, talk to your healthcare provider about treatments that may help prevent further infections. 'If you have a UTI and your symptoms get worse, please call your GP or 111, or go to your nearest A&E, to seek assistance as UTIs can develop into more serious, life-threatening infections.' Dr Brown also stressed that preventing UTIs is important to tackle antibiotic resistance, as they are often treated with antibiotics. 'Reducing the number of UTI infections means bacteria has less chance to develop this resistance, helping keep antibiotics working for longer,' he said. Professor Matt Inada-Kim, national clinical director for infections management and antimicrobial resistance at NHS England, said: 'Urinary tract infections are an increasingly common reason for becoming ill at home and in hospitals. 'They are more serious in older patients and, in particular, those with catheters but they can occur at any age and are not often related to poor hygiene. 'Antimicrobial resistance continues to grow and it is vital that we do everything we can to manage urinary infections through prevention, education and providing easy access to healthcare, including diagnostic tests and appropriate treatment.'
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Many UTI hospital admissions could be prevented, according to experts
One in three hospital trips for urinary tract infections (UTIs) could potentially be avoided, experts have said. It comes as new data suggests UTIs cost NHS hospitals in England an estimated £604 million in 2023/24. Admissions increased by 9% during the year compared with the previous 12 months, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UTIs can affect the bladder, urethra or kidneys, and can include symptoms such as pain while peeing, blood in the pee, and pain in the tummy or back. The infections are usually caused by bacteria from poo entering the urinary tract. UKHSA analysis of the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database found there were 189,759 hospital admissions relating to UTIs in England in 2023/24. This resulted in 1.2 million NHS bed days, averaging six bed days per infection. However, a third of UTI patients were in hospital for less than a day, meaning other treatment options could be considered, according to the UKHSA. Dr Colin Brown, deputy director at UKHSA responsible for antibiotic resistance, said: 'Urinary tract infections are a major cause of hospitalisations in this country, but many could be prevented.' The figures also show hospital admissions for UTIs increased up by 9% in 2023/24 compared with the previous year. However, levels are still below those seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. More than half of all UTI admissions (52.7%) included in the data were patients aged over 70, and more than six in 10 (61.8%) were women. Women were nearly five times more likely to need hospital treatment for a UTI in people under the age of 50. To avoid catching a UTI, experts advise people to drink enough fluid regularly, avoid holding in pee, wash daily, keep the genital areas clean and dry and wipe from front to back when on the toilet to avoid bacteria spreading. Dr Brown said: 'We know that the most serious consequences that come from UTIs are more common in people over the age of 50 so we are reminding this group in particular to be aware of the ways they can help reduce their risk of getting poorly. 'Drinking enough fluids is so important, as well as avoiding holding onto pee. If you have frequent UTIs, talk to your healthcare provider about treatments that may help prevent further infections. 'If you have a UTI and your symptoms get worse, please call your GP or 111, or go to your nearest A&E, to seek assistance as UTIs can develop into more serious, life-threatening infections.' Dr Brown also stressed that preventing UTIs is important to tackle antibiotic resistance, as they are often treated with antibiotics. 'Reducing the number of UTI infections means bacteria has less chance to develop this resistance, helping keep antibiotics working for longer,' he said. Professor Matt Inada-Kim, national clinical director for infections management and antimicrobial resistance at NHS England, said: 'Urinary tract infections are an increasingly common reason for becoming ill at home and in hospitals. 'They are more serious in older patients and, in particular, those with catheters but they can occur at any age and are not often related to poor hygiene. 'Antimicrobial resistance continues to grow and it is vital that we do everything we can to manage urinary infections through prevention, education and providing easy access to healthcare, including diagnostic tests and appropriate treatment.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Deadly invasive spider spreading across NZ sparks warning for Aussie cities
Not only are noble false widow spiders venomous, but some populations harbour antibiotic-resistant bacteria on their fangs. A deadly invasive spider species is spreading quickly across New Zealand, and experts think it may have already reached Australia. Not only are noble false widow spiders venomous, but some populations harbour antibiotic resistant bacteria on their fangs. Ecologist Professor Steven Truick, who's been tracking the city-dwelling spiders since they were first detected on the North Island in late 2024, said it's possible the species has also made its way to Australia. Speaking to Yahoo News, he said, you may already have it, but it's just not noticed. Of course, that's a really fundamental issue with species invasion. If alien monsters turned up and started eating people, we'd notice very quickly, but with something rather subtle like this, we don't. The spider's rapid spread across New Zealand suggests it may have been there long before it was officially identified last year, thriving in harsh urban environments where native spiders struggle to live. While Australia's Department of Agriculture didn't confirm whether the species poses a threat, it did state that there are a number of measures in place to manage biosecurity.
