A potent antibiotic has emerged in the battle against deadly, drug-resistant superbugs
- Researchers have identified a new antibiotic that appears to kill A. baumannii, or CRAB – a bug that kills roughly half of all patients who acquire it
- The compound Zosurabalpin has defeated strains of pneumonia and sepsis in mice, raising hopes for human trials
Under a microscope, this drug-resistant superbug looks as benign as a handful of pebbles. Yet carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, or CRAB, is a nightmare for hospitals worldwide, as it kills roughly half of all patients who acquire it.
Identified as a top-priority pathogen by both the World Health Organization and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, CRAB is the most common form of a group of bacteria that are resistant to nearly all available antibiotics.
Victims are typically hospitalised patients who are already sick with blood infections or pneumonia.
In the United States alone, the bug sickens thousands and kills hundreds every year.
But 2024 is starting with some encouraging news on the global health front. For the first time in half a century, researchers have identified a new antibiotic that appears to effectively kill A. baumannii.
‘The scientific approach is brilliant’
The compound, zosurabalpin, attacks bacteria from a novel angle, disrupting the route that a key toxin takes on its journey from inside the bacterial cell to the outer membrane that shields the bug from the immune system’s defensive onslaughts.
