Researchers Use Old Methods For New Health Challenges

The last thing anybody needs during their stay in the hospital is a hospital-attained infection. Dubbed as nosocomial infections, they are on the rise as more pathogens turn out to be resistant to drugs presently accessible. One pathogen leads the list as one of the most regularly fatal, one of the most widespread, and one of the most hard to cure—Acinetobacter baumannii.

Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Kumar Venkitanarayanan, and his team lately posted research in the Wound Medicine journal showing how they are operating to alter that.

baumannii is added on the WHO’s ESKAPE list, a compilation of bacteria that are turning out to be more and more antibiotic-opposing. With resistance on the verge of increment, study into optional treatments is paramount, and in some instances returning to earlier treatments is proving effectual.

baumannii infections are particularly hard to cure since the bacteria causes an arsenal of actions for getting antibiotic resistance, claims Venkitanarayanan. The bacteria are also able to form biofilms that strengthen the infection in opposition to antibiotics and affords them the elevated odds of multiplying, particularly in hospitals.

“A. baumannii is majorly a nosocomial pathogen affecting those particularly having week immune systems, burn victims, the very old, the very young, and is also seen in combat soldiers’ wounds,” claims Venkitanarayanan. A. baumannii can contaminate wounds and result in particularly soft tissue and persistent skin infections and ultimately spread, leading to sometimes impossible and difficult to cure systemic infections such as urinary tract infections or pneumonia.

Instead of taking the approach of designing novel antibiotics, the research group by Venkitanarayanan sees to earlier treatment approaches to look for new plans.

“In the earlier days, metals were employed as antimicrobial treatments, so we made a decision to revisit those to check if they can be imposed on current treatments,” claims Venkitanarayanan.