Drug-resistant bugs ‘as big a crisis as climate change’

Scientists in Cork are working on medicines to target antibiotic-resistant superbugs, including MRSA.

Superbugs have developed resistance to existing antibiotics, so new ones are badly needed. The research being conducted at University College Cork is aimed at ‘narrow spectrum’ antibiotics which target specific bacteria. Speaking at a conference in the college, Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation issued a stark warning on the crisis of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, saying we could be witnessing the “end of modern medicine as we know it”.

Colin Hill, from the School of Microbiology in UCC, said the vast majority of bacteria were good. Traditional antibiotics killed all the bacteria good and bad, but new targeted medicines would only kill the bad bacteria.

“Antibiotics like penicillin, which kill all bacteria are more likely to cause superbugs to develop,” said Prof Hill. “When all the millions of bacteria are killed, eventually one or two will develop resistance and then, they’ll pass that resistance on to the others.”

The research, in conjunction with Teagasc, is in the early development stages, and investment is needed to bring the drugs to market.

Prof Hill said the research team were developing an antibiotic which targets pseudomonas aeruginosa, which affects people with cystic fibrosis.

He said antibiotic-resistant bacteria had emerged because of the proper use of antibiotics combined with improper overuse. He said this was a manmade global challenge and compared it to climate change.