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HEALTH

A new antibiotic that could fight drug-resistant bacteria has been found in Italy

Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic that is highly effective against bacteria resistant to known antimicrobials, which was found in a soil sample taken in Italy.

A new antibiotic that could fight drug-resistant bacteria has been found in Italy
File photo of laboratory workers: pressmaster/Depositphotos

Named “pseudouridimycin,” or PUM, the new antibiotic is produced by a microbe found in the soil.

It has killed a wide range of bacteria in laboratory tests and cured mice infected with scarlet fever. Details of the discovery were published on Thursday in the US scientific journal Cell.

Pseudouridimycin neutralizes an enzyme called polymerase that is essential to virtually all functions of every organism.

However, it acts differently than rifampicin, a class of antibiotics used to target the same enzyme. Its mechanism means the new antibiotic is ten times less likely to trigger drug resistance than those currently on the market.

PUM killed 20 species of bacteria in experiments, proving especially effective against streptococci and staphylococci, several of which are resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Clinical trials with PUM could begin within three years and the new antibiotic could be released on the market in the next ten years, researchers at New Jersey's Rutgers-New Brunswick University and the Italian biotechnology company Naicons said.

The discovery showed again that bacteria found in the soil are the best source of new antibiotics, the scientists said.

READ ALSO: Six bizarre health tips Italian grans swear by

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HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

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