According to scientists at the University of Western Ontario, some killer superbugs are finding ways to call a truce with humans. Lead researcher Joaquin Madrenas, head of immunology at Robarts Research Institute says that these bugs have evolved into networks of peaceful coexistence.
Madrenas and colleagues at Western, the University of Calgary and Northwestern University in Chicago studied Staphylococcus aureus, a bug that has caused serious infections in hospitals, sometimes leading to fatal attacks that trigger toxic shock syndrome which can kill within hours. There is, at present, no specific known treatment for this syndrome.
With staph infections on the rise, researchers are stumped by the low numbers of deaths from toxic shock syndrome. Looking for reasons behind this unusual scenario, they discovered that some superbugs have abandoned their malicious blueprint and evolved molecules in their cell walls that turn off the immune response, a situation that allows them to live side by side within human hosts. What's surprising is that their presence does not cause toxic shock; these bugs have found a way to exist peacefully side by side with humans.
Fifty percent of the world's population are carrying these superbug microbes in their noses and repiratory tracks. Most do not get sick from them.
Some bugs evolve through competition; others through networking.
More on superbugs here.
No comments:
Post a Comment