Ultra-Tough Antibiotic To Fight Superbugs
US scientists have re-engineered a vital antibiotic in a bid to wipe out one of the world's most threatening superbugs.
Their new version of vancomycin is designed to be ultra-tough and appears to be a thousand times more potent than the old drug, PNAS journal reports.
See More Images Of Enterococcus Bacteria
It fights bacteria in three different ways, making it much less likely that the bugs can dodge the attack. It is yet to be tested in animals and people, however.
The Scripps Research Institute team hope the drug will be ready for use within five years if it passes more tests.
Experts have repeatedly warned that we are on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", where some infections could become untreatable.
One hard-to-treat infection that has been worrying doctors is vancomycin-resistant enterococci or VRE.
It has been found in hospitals, can cause dangerous wound and bloodstream infections and is considered by the WHO to be one of the drug-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
Some antibiotics still work against VRE, but the 60-year-old drug vancomycin is now powerless.
