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Deadly, Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections Are Spreading - Scientists Just Discovered a Potential Treatment
Scientists have found that a little-known bacterial antibiotic is capable of disarming fungi responsible for life-threatening infections. It's a welcome discovery in a world where drug-resistant fungi are becoming an increasingly serious global health concern. "Fungal infections kill an estimated two million people worldwide each year, yet treatment options remain limited," explains molecular biologist Ana Traven of Monash University in Australia, who led the research published in Current Biology. "Modern medicine, from surgery and cancer treatment to organ transplantation and intensive care, depends on our ability to prevent and treat these life-threatening infections." Traven and her colleagues have found an existing but little-known antibiotic that might be able to help. "There are no vaccines for fungal infections, and some of the antifungal medicines we do have can be highly toxic, highlighting the urgent need for new ways to prevent and treat these diseases," Traven says. Candida albicans is a typically benign yeast that lives on and inside our bodies, mostly unnoticed – until, on very rare occasions, it can become pathogenic. Infection usually only happens in people who are already really sick or immunocompromised, or who have risk factors such as major surgery or invasive medical devices. C. albicans can...
