Cause of fatal superinfection discovered

British scientists have observed microorganisms that can change shape to become invulnerable to antibiotics, and have made important discoveries that can help fight superinfection, said researchers at the University of Newcastle.

Scientists concentrated on L-forms - that is, on microbes that lost their cell walls, but, nevertheless, retained the ability to develop and multiply, phys.org reported.

L-forms of bacteria appear against the background of the uncontrolled use of antibiotics, as well as as a result of mutations provoked by powerful ultraviolet radiation.

"In organisms of people who were hospitalized with urinary tract infections, L-forms of the microbes Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, Enterococcus and Escherichia coli were found. All of them arose against the background of taking antibiotics. We found that after discontinuation of antibacterial drugs, microorganisms can repair their cell walls in a matter of hours,” the researchers say, noting that in relatively healthy people, these bacteria are destroyed by the immune system, but in weakened and elderly patients they can cause superinfection.

To surely destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria, you need to develop advanced methods of combination treatment, the authors said. Combined treatment involves the simultaneous effect on the cell walls and the DNA / RNA of the microbe.

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