Opportunistic Killers

The problem is so serious that the British health authorities have declared war on hospital superbugs that now infect one in sixteen patients. A cluster of MRSE bacteria (close relatives of the MRSA superbug) is seen here secreting a slimy matrix or biofilm (shown in purple) that can shield them from antibiotics. Any place with cramped living conditions like hospitals, prisons, and gyms give the bugs a happy home, but they leave most healthy people unharmed, pouncing instead when their victim's immune system is weak. That makes hospitals a fertile hunting ground, where they lurk on unwashed hands or poorly sterilised medical instruments such as catheters. But the reign of these superbugs might be ending if a new type of antibacterial gel lives up to its inventors’ expectations. By breaking-up the slimy biofilm that coats the bugs, the gel leaves them unshielded while therapies can get to work on them.

Written by Tristan Farrow

Tristan Farrow

Writer

British Science Association Media Fellow. He holds a degree in quantum physics from the University of Cambridge and a Research Fellowship in quantum effects in biology.

• Image by NIAID
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in Biomacromolecules, July 2014