America develops powerful antibiotic against super bacteria

To fight the superbug VRE, American scientists improved the 60-year-old antibiotic vancomycin into a powerful drug with a thousand-fold increase in effectiveness.

Humanity is facing a “post-antibiotic era,” a period in which many infections that were once treatable become untreatable. Among these, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are a threat that doctors are concerned about. They often appear in hospitals, causing infections in wounds and blood vessels.

The World Health Organization ranks VRE among the 12 most dangerous drug-resistant superbugs to human health.

Photo: BBC.

Currently, some antibiotics can still fight VRE, but vancomycin is completely ineffective. To deal with this situation, a group of scientists from the Scripps Research Institute (USA) has improved the 60-year-old antibiotic.

According to BBC, thanks to changes in the molecular structure, the new version of vancomycin has increased strength and durability with an effectiveness thousands of times higher than the old version. The drug attacks the cell wall and destroys VRE, preventing the pathogen from escaping. In laboratory conditions, the effect of the improved vancomycin is almost intact after 50 exposures to bacteria.

"This is a very important development," said Professor Nigel Brown of the American Society for Microbiology. The Scripps Research Institute hopes the new version of vancomycin will be ready for use within the next five years.

According to VNE