Considered a top global public health threat, superbugs increasingly threaten much of modern medicine because they're resistant to the antibiotics used during routine surgeries or treatments, like C-sections or cancer care. And hospitals are rife with opportunities for potential exposure.
"We already do have patients in Canada that are dying of untreatable infection," said Schwartz, who previously worked in Edmonton but moved to Duke University, in Durham, N.C., last year.Gerry Wright, a professor of biochemistry and biomedical studies, works to develop new antibiotics at his lab at McMaster University. For Wright, the trillions of bacteria have the upper hand, thanks to how quickly they reproduce to swap DNA and evolve to gain resistance.
Wright also suggests the rapid spread of COVID-19 should serve as a wake-up call, showing how quickly pathogens without treatment options can spread. Part of the fungus's hardiness is thanks to the fact it is encased in slime that protects it from disinfectants. The slime, called a biofilm, makes it tough to stamp out in hospitals and long-term care homes. Plus, fungi also pass easily from one patient to another. When it invades the body, it can be hard to treat.To take Wright's M&M coating metaphor a step further, the shells on fungi are even thicker than what's found on bacteria — more like a watermelon rind.
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