Melbourne scientists figured out how the golden staph could turn deadly, and their discovery could save thousands, if not millions, of lives. Golden staph, also known as Staphylococcus aureus, is commonly found on the skin and in the nose of healthy people but can enter the body through cuts and wounds.
A team of Melbourne scientists, led by Abdou Hachani from the University of Melbourne, figured out how golden staph turns deadly.
Hacani is a high-ranking researcher at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) and the team published their jaw-dropping find on the online medical journal eLife around this time.
The Doherty Institute notes that golden staph can hide inside human cells so they don’t get detected by the immune system. This can help doctors give patients with golden staph better treatment before the disease turns worse because Australia has 4000 cases of golden staph each year, with about 20% of those leading to death.
The team of scientists invented a new way to study golden staph’s behavior inside human cells. Hachani said surveying the behavior could give precious information about how the bacteria lived inside humans.
Tim Stinenear, from the University of Melbourne and a molecular microbiologist at the Doherty Institute was part of the researchers and said the new method of studying golden staph could help predictive medicine to treat patients based on the genetic makeup of golden staph.
“This new knowledge will guide research to find new ways to combat these infections,” Stinenear said.
400 samples from 400 people who have golden staph provided the Doherty Institute with previous data and information.
“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.” He said the team discovered that golden staph could seem harmless but could actually be deadly.
Hanachi said the discovery could save lots of lives—but it could also take up lots of time.
The United Nations says that by 2050, most deaths will be caused by superbugs and associated forms of antimicrobial resistance, which could be more deadly than Covid.
“This discovery means that we will be able to design ‘a la carte’ treatments for patients with golden staph before we reach the doom date of 2050,” Hachani said.
A team of Melbourne scientists, led by Abdou Hachani from the University of Melbourne, figured out how golden staph turns deadly.
Hacani is a high-ranking researcher at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) and the team published their jaw-dropping find on the online medical journal eLife around this time.
The Doherty Institute notes that golden staph can hide inside human cells so they don’t get detected by the immune system. This can help doctors give patients with golden staph better treatment before the disease turns worse because Australia has 4000 cases of golden staph each year, with about 20% of those leading to death.
The team of scientists invented a new way to study golden staph’s behavior inside human cells. Hachani said surveying the behavior could give precious information about how the bacteria lived inside humans.
Tim Stinenear, from the University of Melbourne and a molecular microbiologist at the Doherty Institute was part of the researchers and said the new method of studying golden staph could help predictive medicine to treat patients based on the genetic makeup of golden staph.
“This new knowledge will guide research to find new ways to combat these infections,” Stinenear said.
400 samples from 400 people who have golden staph provided the Doherty Institute with previous data and information.
“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.” He said the team discovered that golden staph could seem harmless but could actually be deadly.
Hanachi said the discovery could save lots of lives—but it could also take up lots of time.
The United Nations says that by 2050, most deaths will be caused by superbugs and associated forms of antimicrobial resistance, which could be more deadly than Covid.
“This discovery means that we will be able to design ‘a la carte’ treatments for patients with golden staph before we reach the doom date of 2050,” Hachani said.
