disarm germs rather than kill them

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To fight once morest bacteria resistant to antibiotics, researchers try to make them harmless and not to eliminate them.

Par Olivier Hertel

In Switzerland, researchers have found a way to neutralize the virulence of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa without killing her.
© ALINE MORCILLO / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP

Published on 04/06/2023 at 07:10

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Lscientists call it Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A bacterium, or rather a terror. Omnipresent in hospitals, it is responsible for a significant proportion of nosocomial infections and can be fatal to immunocompromised people. It is especially feared in intensive care units, because it colonizes the systems used to ventilate patients. The royal way to infect the lungs. It also likes to settle on the wounds of major burns victims, where it spreads its greenish and malodorous colonies. And, as if that weren’t enough, some strains are now resistant to all available antibiotics. This resistance to antibiotics caused 559,000 deaths in 2019 worldwide.

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