Gram-negative Bacteria Defy Drug Solutions
Posted on March 1, 2009 Comments (1)
Deadly bacteria defy drugs, alarming doctors by Mary Engel
The three bugs belong to a large category of bacteria called “gram-negative” that are especially hard to fight because they are wrapped in a double membrane and harbor enzymes that chew up many antibiotics. As dangerous as MRSA is, some antibiotics can still treat it, and more are in development, experts say.
But the drugs once used to treat gram-negative bacteria are becoming ineffective, and finding effective new ones is especially challenging.
…
For the most part, gram-negative bacteria are hospital scourges — harmless to healthy people but ready to infect already-damaged tissue. The bacteria steal into the body via ventilator tubes, catheters, open wounds and burns, causing pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and bone, joint and bloodstream infections.
Pseudomonas is widely found in soil and water, and rarely causes problems except in hospitals.
Related: Superbugs – Deadly Bacteria Take Hold – CDC Urges Increased Effort to Reduce Drug-Resistant Infections – MRSA Blows Up Defender Cells – posts on antibiotics
Categories: Antibiotics, Health Care, Life Science, Science, Students
Tags: Antibiotics, bacteria, drug-resistance, human health, Life Science
One Response to “Gram-negative Bacteria Defy Drug Solutions”
Leave a Reply
November 15th, 2013 @ 4:56 am
[…] works on gram positive antibiotics. ADEP4 is too big to pass through the extra outer layers of the gram-negative bacteria like ecoli and […]