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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday November 25 2015, @11:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the maybe-save-a-life dept.

Biofilms frequently coat the surfaces of catheters, and of various medical implants and prostheses, where they can cause life-threatening infections. New research at the Sahlgrenska Academy show that coating implants with a certain "activator" can prevent Staphylococcus aureus, the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections, from forming biofilms.

Biofilms are mats of bacteria similar to the plaque that grows on teeth. Biofilms frequently coat the surfaces of catheters, and of various medical implants and prostheses, where they can threaten lives or lead to failure of the implants.

Antibiotics are impotent against biofilms. Now Gothenburg researchers Jakub Kwiecinski, Tao Jin and collaborators show that coating implants with "tissue plasminogen activator" can prevent Staphylococcus aureus, the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections, from forming biofilms.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @12:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @12:21AM (#268186)

    How does it compare to lung or prostate cancer, heart disease, and road traffic accidents?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @12:53AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @12:53AM (#268191)

      i'm not sure what your criteria for comparison is, but if you happened to go to the hospital because you had lung or prostate cancer, heart disease, or were in a road traffic accident, you run the risk of picking up a nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infection.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:14AM (#268227)

      Dangerous enough that it can kill you.

      If you want a list of leading causes of death, then just check Wikipedia.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:17AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:17AM (#268229)

      Don't worry about that rattlesnake bite.
      How many people do those kill each year? They must not be very dangerous.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:11AM (#268225)

    I went to a seminar on UTIs acquired from catheters and the infection rate is ridiculously high. IIRC the speaker said that if a catheter is in for more than five days, then a UTI is basically guaranteed as the rate is close to 100%. I don't remember S. aureus being high up on the list of catheter-acquired infections, though.

  • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:49AM

    by davester666 (155) on Thursday November 26 2015, @03:49AM (#268234)

    I am really worried that someone will make a very misleading documentary about catheters, and was happy to learn that someone had invented a new technique that would prevent them, somehow.

    I was disappointed after reading the summary.