ecf-oct-infectionhope
Infection Hope
SCIENTISTS believe they are a step closer to preventing antibiotic-resistant infections from spreading.
Their findings could lead to new drugs to fight infections that commonly cause death in people with AIDS or cystic fibrosis, they said.
American researchers designed a group of compounds that block the chemical signals bacteria use to communicate with each other. Bacteria can get together and produce dangerous biofilms that make them physically resistant to antibiotics.
Researchers found that instead of killing the bacteria directly, their compounds could act as ''conversation stoppers''. The study involved using the compounds together with antibiotics.
Study leader Dr Helen Blackwell said there was an urgent, global need for new antibacterial therapies.
''The ability to interfere with bacterial virulence by intercepting bacterial communication networks represents a new therapeutic approach,'' she said.
September 11, 2006 Monday
FIRST Edition
