It is one of the largest medical challenges of the century. Antibiotic resistant germs require a year in Europe, around 33,000 lives. Many people die of the infection.
The ZDF-show “plan b” shows, what strategies there are to the spread of the germs reside. Reasons for this are many. Scientists make both the mass animal husbandry, lack of hospital hygiene, as well as the hasty procurement of antibiotics responsible.
The consequences are devastating. Patients no longer feel a helpless, if the medication is working. The so-called multi-resistant pathogens in wounds, the skin or lung, get debilitated patients develop immune also dangerous infections. In workshops and research laboratories, scientists are now trying to find new strategies and solutions.
Belgium: viruses against bacteria
Paulina Schweiger is one of the Affected. The 15-Year-old suffers from cystic fibrosis, becomes ill, often inflammation of the lungs. The metabolic disease thickens your lung secretions, there are dangerous germs in their lungs nest again and again – including antibiotic-resistant.
A clinic, you may only be entered with Mouth guard. “I don’t need, so I infectious to other people – and so I don’t infect myself with any germs,” explains the 15-Year-old.
at the clinic in Antwerp, Belgium to be treated for your lung, now with a new therapy. The physician to Patrick Soentjens put on the application of specific viruses. So-called phage can proliferate autonomously, to attack bacteria and multiply in it. Phage are enough grown up, they destroy the bacterium and to grab a new one. When host bacteria are present in the body, die from the phage. In Germany, the therapy is not approved so far.
The method is not new, however. Over a hundred years ago were treated in Europe, certain bacteria infections with viruses. With the development of antibiotics, the phage were however forgotten.
Soentjens is firmly convinced that this method, many people could save lives. “If we want to win the battle against the resistance, we must all promise of success, apply methods, and phages clearly belong to. There are many proven success stories from Eastern Europe,“ he explains. In Western Europe, Belgium is the first country to recognize phages as drugs.
the Doctor Tine Boiy is optimistic: “We hope that we can fight with the phage, the infections, for which antibiotics have no effect anymore.”
In the case of Paulina Schweiger that is the case. After a week you noticed progress, the Breathing is now much easier. The phage were not able to kill all the germs. And they’re about to go for another therapy to Belgium.
“fight No just as uncompromising, as the actual infections,”
In Germany, try Doctors, however, resistant germs ahead of time to identify – for example, before patients surgery. To a lesser extent, the Doctors determine, whether germs on the skin are available. So, you can prevent access during the Operation in the body.
“We have detected in the Netherlands early on that we need to combat the spread of germs just as uncompromising as the actual infections. To do this, we need to know as quickly as possible, with what we germs have to do it,” says Ron Hendrix. The hygiene doctor from the Netherlands advises a German hospital Association in the münsterland region.
He had long been in favour of German hospitals in their labs open. For cost reasons, many hospitals have abandoned at the beginning of the 2000s, to be operated for self-diagnostics laboratory. The Hendrix thinks is a mistake.
Because using our own laboratories, clinics could do more testing and faster results. So, you could use antibiotics in the future targeted. Old agents use to find, for there is no resistance, also new. He is in favour of reducing the medical use of antibiotics. More and more German clinics to close his ideas and methods.
Denmark: mass animal husbandry without antibiotics
Hendrix also explained that over 95 percent of hospital-proven germs “to be brought”. It was not hospital germs. Instead, it infected many people in their environment. A big factor is the agriculture. Due to the mass use in the fattening of animals, the germs in the stables – even years to spread, after there are no more animals lives.
In Denmark, there is, therefore, further approaches in the fight against germs. There the farmers came under severe pressure after a rapid propagation of antibiotic resistance in the animals was demonstrated. Now, around 2000 cattle breeders have joined together. You want to reduce the use of antibiotics in solid and tried their fattening pigs without antibiotics to raise.
in Addition, scientists are working on methods that brought in germs. You develop self-driving robot cleaner. Using UVC light, the robot will help to disinfect hospital rooms more thoroughly.
Germany: development of new drugs
another solution to the antibiotics crisis: New drugs. In Regensburg, molecular biologists are working to Martin Grießl to the development of new substances.
phage produce protein enzymes, certain types of Bacteria to combat it. The biotech company Lisando produces the said enzymes instead of artificially and optimized. The End Result: So-Called Artilysine. “The basic idea is that you can bring bacteria from the outside to Burst like a balloon,” explains Grießl.
the First Volunteers have already been subjected to a treatment with enzymes, the application shows a success. Thus, the enzymes could represent an Alternative to existing antibiotics. Grießl is hoping to bring the enzymes in the future as a medication on the market. Until then, it is still a long way off, Aicuris is a pharmaceutical company from Wuppertal, Germany conducts research on the use of enzymes. “You would have a new weapon against resistant bacteria in the Hand,” explains company boss Holger Zimmermann. To the Artilysine as the drugs are ready for the market, it can take five to ten years.
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