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The Microbiology Society has coordinated a response to a call for evidence launched by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on the antimicrobial potential of bacteriophages.

The first ever systematic review of its kind confirms that taking probiotics alongside antibiotics can protect against some of the negative impacts of antibiotics on the human gut microbiome. The review is reported in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, published by the Microbiology Society.

Down in the depths of the ocean, scientists believe they may have discovered a treasure trove. Not a sunken chest filled with gold coins and lost riches, but perhaps something even more valuable. A soon to be published study has revealed that the gut microbiomes of deep-sea fish are teeming with new antimicrobial molecules that could fight common foodborne infections. The findings shed a new light on this previously untapped resource and could one day pave the way for new antimicrobial medicines.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from five research institutes across the UK are developing a “world first” resource for research into the microbiomes of crops.

Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the most serious global challenges of our time, with far-reaching impacts on sustainable development, food security and public health. In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million people died as a direct result of antibiotic resistant infections – and the study estimates millions more deaths were indirectly linked. Researchers have now conducted the largest global study to date of antibiotic resistance genes in the human gut microbiome. They found a correlation between the abundance and diversity of resistance genes in healthy people not taking antibiotics and per capita antibiotic use in a country, demonstrating how the impacts of individual antibiotic consumption diffuse throughout the population.

When it comes to disease-causing microbes, bacteria and viruses usually steal the spotlight. But there is another, often overlooked, microbial foe that is a grave cause for concern. Fungal pathogens cause an estimated 1.5 million human deaths and destroy a third of the global crop yield each year. Despite this impact on human health and food security, the number of antifungal drugs available is extremely limited.

Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), France, have been involved in antifungal stewardship since 2017, with the aim of optimising the management of invasive fungal infections and containing antifungal resistance. Invasive fungal infections such as invasive candidiasis and invasive aspergillosis are a significant cause of mortality, especially in critically ill patients and immunocompromised patients.
 

The Journal of Medical Microbiology (JMM) is pleased to announce the return of its popular online seminar series.

Research has found fidaxomicin, an antibiotic usually used to treat bowel infections, prevents growth of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) in the lab.

Published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the research found that fidaxomicin was more effective than existing tuberculosis (TB) medication at preventing growth of the bacterium that causes TB.  
 

Researchers have found that a major component of cinnamon oil can help to clear certain bacterial infections.

Today, at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference in Liverpool, scientists will show that the foam made by Trinidadian frogs represents a new, non-toxic antibiotic delivery system that may help to prevent infections.

Date syrup – a thick, sweet liquid derived from dates that is widely consumed across the Middle East – shows antibacterial activity against a number of disease-causing bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. New research, presented today at the Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference in Birmingham, showed that, in vitro, date syrup is able to inhibit the growth of bacteria faster than manuka honey, which has previously been shown to have antibacterial properties and is increasingly used in dressings to improve wound repair.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham have shown that a 1,000 year old Anglo-Saxon remedy for eye infections, which originates from a manuscript in the British Library, has been found to kill the modern-day superbug MRSA. This work is being presented this week at the Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference.

Microbiologist Dr Freya Harrison, working with Dr Steve Diggle and Dr Aled Roberts, collaborated with Dr Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert from the School of English, to recreate a 10th century potion for eye infections from Bald’s Leechbook. The book is widely thought of as one of the earliest known medical textbooks and contains Anglo-Saxon medical advice and recipes for medicines, salves and treatments.