How do you treat an infection that is resistant to antibiotics? How can you stop the spread of so-called “superbugs,” when traditional treatments only seem to make them stronger?
Hospitals around the world are seeing an alarming increase in the number of infections that don’t respond to even the most powerful antibiotic treatments. For researchers like George Zhanel, the race is on to stay one step ahead of the superbugs, and to educate the public on how to protect themselves against these microscopic marauders.
Zhanel, medical microbiology, said that even though the mainstream media has only been focused on superbugs for the last decade or so, the idea of antibiotic resistance is nothing new.
“Antibiotics were first widely introduced during the Second World War, when soldiers were dying in large numbers from post-surgical infections, and there was an urgent need to do something,” Zhanel said. “When they started using penicillin in 1944, they started to see these almost magical recoveries. Very shortly after that, however, there were already reports of penicillin-resistant organisms.”
For decades, medical researchers assumed that this resistance was a purely evolutionary response, and that bacteria were adapting to the presence of the new drugs.
“Personally, I’m becoming more and more convinced that there is more to it than that,” Zhanel said. “This adaptation is happening much faster than it should be if it were just the result of random mutations. These organisms really seem to be making genetic changes, and moving DNA around in what is almost an ordered fashion.”
Zhanel is studying the genetics of superbugs, and he and other scientists are working at the molecular level to diagnose infections, and to develop new treatments. In the meantime, the medical community is looking at all of the factors that could be making the problem worse, including antibiotic use in humans and animals. Zhanel said public education will play a critical role in slowing the spread of these organisms.
“A large part of the population doesn’t understand the difference between bacteria and viruses, and there is this overwhelming belief that a germ is a germ,” he said. “Everyone needs to know that a virus that causes a cough or a stuffy nose should never be treated with an antibiotic. There are a number of things all of us can do to slow these superbugs down, from washing our hands with soap and water, to not insisting that our doctors give us an antibiotic every time we get a cold.”
On February 20, Zhanel will be describing his research at a public lecture titled, Infections Caused by Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs: Are We Doomed? The presentation is part of the Get to Know Research at Your University speaker series, and begins at 7:00 pm in the Smartpark boardroom at 135 Innovation Drive. Admission is free, and everyone is invited to attend. For more information about the event, please call Kimberley at 474-9020.
