Barcelona: A new research I 19 gold-based compounds have been identified that can successfully treat drug-resistant superbugs.
According to research presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases to be held next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, several gold-based compounds have been shown to be effective against tough bacteria.
In a paper written for the conference, the researchers say they have discovered gold-based antibiotics that have the potential to specifically fight infections that are resistant to other drugs.
Sara Soto-González of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Barcelona, Spain, and her co-researchers evaluated the efficacy of 19 gold-based compounds against a variety of drug-resistant bacteria.
Bacteria included in the study included methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonasmatophila, Actonobacter baumannii and pneumonia.
The study found that 84 percent of the gold-based compounds were highly effective against MRSA and Staphylococcus epidermidis, while 16 compounds were found to be effective against other bacteria.
All of these bacteria were gram-negative, the researchers said. Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that are more resistant to antibiotics and require new treatments.
Overall all 19 compounds tested were effective against at least one hardy bacteria while some compounds were effective against multiple.
Drug-resistant infections cause about 700,000 deaths worldwide each year. Antibiotic resistance has been identified as one of the greatest threats to humanity by the World Health Organization.
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