New research could help prevent superbug infections through medical implants

Australian scientists said a new research into the behavior of superbug bacteria could help prevent life-threatening infections forming on medical implants, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). A team of researchers from Sydney's University of Technology said Tuesday they have discovered how the bacteria behaves and why it spreads so rapidly. Associate Professor Cynthia Whitchurch told ABC that the development is a breakthrough. They found the bacteria hid a glue-like DNA that bound hundreds of cells together, which is fast-moving and resistant to antibiotics and the body's immune defences. Those cells then gouge tiny trails as they move along the surface. Whitchurch said the next step is trying to find a way to destroy that process. Instead of allowing the bacteria to create their own road network, she said, "we can create our own furrows in the surface of a catheter which would inhibit their ability to run up the catheter of their own accord."