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31 January 2020They combat 'costridium difficile', which causes 46% of hospital gastrointestinal infections
Two researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Zaragoza, Rosa Bolea and Eloísa Sevilla, have made progress in the fight against an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that causes half of the hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infections in the world, with more than 124.000 patients. affected per year only in Europe.
According to the Academic Institution, the two researchers have discovered a genetic marker in the bacterium 'Costridim difficile' (CD) that will allow diagnoses to be obtained more quickly.
The importance of the discovery is evidenced by the publication, today, of the results in the prestigious scientific journal 'Nature Communications', in an international collaboration led by researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (Netherlands), which has allowed us to discover why the failure of one of the antibiotics of choice to treat the aforementioned bacteria.
Rosa Bolea and Eloísa Sevilla are researchers at the Microbiology and Immunology Unit of the Department of Animal Pathology and the Center for Encephalopathies and Emerging Communicable Diseases (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine), and belong to the mixed Agri-Food research institutes of Aragon (IA2) and Health Research of Aragon (IIS-Aragón).
According to the researchers, this bacteria is currently one of the main causes of infectious hospital diarrhea, with an increase in the incidence and severity of cases, with great potential for transmission between people and animals, which is why it is considered an emerging infection. all over the planet.
It is estimated, the researchers say in their publication, that it represents 48% of hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infections in the European Union.
Infection by this pathogen is usually associated with the previous use of antibiotics, because this bacterial agent (CD) is very resistant to almost all of them.
Specifically, the bacteria can only be treated with three antibiotics, metronidazole, vancomycin and fidaxomicin.