A major risk of being hospitalized is catching a bacterial infection. Hospitals, especially areas including intensive care units and surgical wards, are teeming with bacteria, some of which are resistant to antibiotics--they are infamously known as “superbugs.” Superbug infections are difficult and expensive to treat, and can often lead to dire consequences for the patient. Now, new research published online on January 11, 2021 in Nature Microbiology has discovered how to revert antibiotic-resistance in one of the most dangerous superbugs. The article is titled “Bacteriophage-Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii Are Resensitized to Antimicrobials.” The strategy involves the use of bacteriophages (also known as 'phages'). "Phages are viruses, but they cannot harm humans," said lead study author Fernando Gordillo Altamirano, MD, from the Monash University School of Biological Sciences. "They only kill bacteria." The research team investigated phages that can kill the world's leading superbug, Acinetobacter baumannii (image), which is responsible for up to 20 per cent of infections in intensive care units. "We have a large panel of phages that are able to kill antibiotic-resistant A. baumannii," said Jeremy Barr, PhD, senior author of the study and Group Leader at the School of Biological Sciences and part of the Centre to Impact AMR (antimicrobial resistance) (https://www.monash.edu/impact-amr). "But this superbug is smart, and in the same way it becomes resistant to antibiotics, it also quickly becomes resistant to our phages," Dr Barr said. The study pinpoints how the superbug becomes resistant to attack from phages, and in doing so, the superbug loses its resistance to antibiotics. "A. baumannii produces a capsule, a viscous and sticky outer layer that protects it and stops the entry of antibiotics," said Dr. Altamirano.Login Or Register To Read Full Story