Homely Scientist

I read on the CBC website this week that a new potential antibiotic, one that might be effective against antibiotic resistant "superbugs", was identified when studying South African soil bacteria.

Platensimycin, the newly discovered antibiotic, also has a new mode of action, Wang’s team says in a study published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.

It blocks enzymes that bacteria use to make fatty acids – the building blocks of cell membranes and bacterial surfaces.
Source CBC

This is great news.  An antibiotic that works in a new and novel way hasn’t been discovered for years.  This particular compound holds promise to hit some pretty nasty bugs as well.  But, why are we in this situation in the first place?  Why isn’t good old penicillin enough anymore?  The problem is bacterial resistance.  I talked a little about this in an early post here about antibacterial soap, but it’s a topic worth talking about again.

Here’s what happens.  When  you take an antibiotic usually, most, if not all, of the "bad" bacteria are wiped out by the treatment, but sometimes some bacteria are able to survive (resist).  Sometimes this is just a natural thing, sometimes it’s because a person doesn’t take all of their medicine.  When someone doesn’t complete their course of treatment more bacteria are left behind and as the old adage goes, that which does not kill you, makes you stronger.  The descendents of the surviving bacteria then find it easier and easier to survive the antibiotic’s onslaught.

We are in a position right now where, and not to scare you, that more and more antibiotics are becoming less and less effective.  Bacteria are getting stronger.  Already there are strains of TB that have become extremely hard to treat … because people stopped taking their medicine because they felt better or wanted to "save it for later".

What can you do to help?  There are several, easy, things to do:

• Don’t ask for an antibiotic for a cold.  Viruses aren’t effected by antibiotics at all.  Taking an antibiotic when not needed gives bacteria an unnecessary opportunity to "learn" a new antibiotic.
• When you are prescribed an antibiotic, take the whole course unless your doctor tells you to stop (if you are having an allergic reaction for example).
• Don’t use antibacterial soap.  Many of the nasty bacteria we’re having trouble with are soil-borne.  Anything that exposes them to antibiotics only makes things worse

Remember, antibiotics are powerful and important medicines for all of us.  But like penicillin, many are reaching the end of their useful life and with new antibiotics getting harder and harder to find … we all have to do our part.

Tags: Platensimycin, antibiotic resistance, superbugs

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