New study reveals anti-virulence breakthrough for superbugs

New research has highlighted a possible new approach to tackling antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Scientists at Universite de Montreal have uncovered a potential method for disarming a microbe's defences to antibiotics.

"Bacteria have the capacity to develop resistance to antibiotics and they transfer this capacity to their offspring and to other bacteria," commented Dr Christian Baron, the study's lead author and professor at the department of biochemistry.

He added that the discovery of the VirB8 protein as a target for future treatments, allowing the body's own immune system to kill these harmful bacteria, is therefore a significant step forward.

At present, the majority of antibiotics target the cell function of these microbes, but this approach could soon be changed with the application of this discovery, which essentially strips bacteria of their ability to do harm.

According to the World Health Organization, around 440,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis emerge each year, while a significant proportion of hospital-acquired infections are caused by the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).