Australian scientists have made a major breakthrough in fighting Staphylococcus aureus, also known as golden staph. This superbug is responsible for more than a million deaths around the world every year.
The new research shows that using real-time genome sequencing during severe infections can help doctors quickly find resistance mutations and give patients personalised treatment.
The study was done by scientists from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, in collaboration with seven local hospitals.
According to a report by Xinhua news agency, the new method helps doctors respond faster and more accurately during treatment. It also supports efforts to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Until now, hospital laboratories mostly used standard tests to identify bacteria. These tests only reveal the species and do not give much information about antibiotic resistance or changes in the bacteria.
Genome sequencing, on the other hand, gives a full genetic profile and shows mutations that may affect how the bacteria react to medicines.
Earlier research on how bacteria evolve was usually done long after patients had been treated. But this new method lets doctors study bacterial changes while the infection is still active, giving them real-time information to guide treatment.
In the study, researchers compared samples of golden staph taken from patients at the start of infection and again when treatment failed. They found that in one-third of the cases, the bacteria developed mutations that made normal antibiotics useless.
In one example, a patient came back to the hospital two months after stopping antibiotics. During that time, the bacteria’s resistance had increased 80 times. With the help of genome sequencing, doctors were able to adjust the treatment and cure the infection.
The researchers say this is a big step towards targeted therapy for bacterial infections. It also opens the way for future clinical trials that could make this advanced method a regular part of hospital care around the world.
