A team of scientists has discovered that the common bacteria, the golden staph, can turn deadly if it enters the bloodstream. The team is led by the University of Melbourne’s Abdou Hachani, who is a senior researcher at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. Researchers have reported that the golden staph, a seemingly harmless germ, is able to hide in a host’s blood cells, which prevents detection from the immune system.
This amazing discovery will allow humans to gain a better understanding of the human body and the impact of germs such as the golden staph. In Australia, there are about 4,000 infections of the golden staph annually, with around 20% of patients dying. Hachani claims one in three people carry the golden staph on their skin or in their noses, but this is harmless. The only time the golden staph is dangerous is when it enters your bloodstream.
He also claims that the golden staph is a patient “Trojan Horse”, that could be life-threatening. Hachani said that the key to preventing more cases is to understand how the bacterium works. Until recently, everyone had thought the golden staph was a pathogen, which means it only thrives outside of the human body. The team collected samples from 400 people from Australia, which gave them an unusually large amount of data.
“We were lucky to have a very large collection of clinical isolates or golden staph isolated from blood infections,” Hachani said. “These were a key part to verify our hypotheses. And having isolates coming from real patients, causing real damage gave us the fuel for big data analysis”. This research could help save lives in the future when another bacterium like the golden staph appears.
This amazing discovery will allow humans to gain a better understanding of the human body and the impact of germs such as the golden staph. In Australia, there are about 4,000 infections of the golden staph annually, with around 20% of patients dying. Hachani claims one in three people carry the golden staph on their skin or in their noses, but this is harmless. The only time the golden staph is dangerous is when it enters your bloodstream.
He also claims that the golden staph is a patient “Trojan Horse”, that could be life-threatening. Hachani said that the key to preventing more cases is to understand how the bacterium works. Until recently, everyone had thought the golden staph was a pathogen, which means it only thrives outside of the human body. The team collected samples from 400 people from Australia, which gave them an unusually large amount of data.
“We were lucky to have a very large collection of clinical isolates or golden staph isolated from blood infections,” Hachani said. “These were a key part to verify our hypotheses. And having isolates coming from real patients, causing real damage gave us the fuel for big data analysis”. This research could help save lives in the future when another bacterium like the golden staph appears.