Doctors and researchers are in a race against the clock to find new antibiotics and alternatives to antibiotics as the problem of drug-resistance worsens and spreads. One bacterial superbug in particular which has researchers especially worried is Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile – a bacterium which can cause fatal infections in hospitals and nursing homes.
A single course of antibiotics can cause Clostridium difficile, or C. diff – a bacterium that can lead to a condition known as Clostridium difficile colitis – to flourish in the gut, according to researchers at North Carolina State University.
The discovery was made during experiments with mice. The scientists say the antibiotics were found to kill off bacteria responsible for altering bile acid.
Antibiotics have always been a double-edged sword. Yes, they kill what would otherwise be a harmful and sometimes deadly bacteria, but they also kill off the good bacteria in the gut, which allows harmful gut bacteria to proliferate. Now, scientists say they’ve found a way to disarm those dangerous gut bacteria without killing the helpful kind in the process, at least when targeting one type of bacteria.
