Nose drop of ‘friendly’ bacteria could fight meningitis

Doctors have created a nose drop containing a type of “friendly” bacteria which they hope could help prevent meningitis and other infections.

Prof Robert Read, director of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre in England, and his team have inserted a gene into a harmless bacterium that will be able to live in the nose.

Clinical trials are set to be launched to establish whether the modified bacteria will protect against the bacterial species responsible for causing a severe type of meningitis.