New antibiotic, found in the nose, could treat deadly infections

The contents of our noses could have antibiotics that can cure skin infections and other diseases, a new research says.


German scientists credit bacteria in the human nose with producing an antibiotic that appears powerful enough to kill dangerous skin infections.

The antibiotic is produced by a type of staph bacteria found in about 10% of people's noses, according to a study published online Wednesday in Nature.

Although many people associate bacteria with disease, the human body is actually home to trillions of beneficial bacteria that help us digest our food, synthesize vitamins and fight infections.

Some bacteria make their own chemical weapons, in the form of antibiotics, to fight their rivals. For 70 years, humans have used these substances to treat infections. While most antibiotics come from bacteria that live in soil, scientists in recent years have found antibiotics in the human body, including one produced by beneficial bacteria in the vagina.

The discovery of an additional antibiotic in the nose suggests that these earlier findings are valid.

In fact, the human body could be a source of many new antibiotics, said study coauthor Andreas Peschel,a professor at the University of Tübingen in Germany, which has filed for a patent on the new antibiotic.

 Overuse of antibiotics has contributed to antibiotic resistance, in which bacteria evolve in ways that make them difficult or even impossible to kill, even with the strongest drugs.

Many doctors now worry that we could be entering a "post-antibiotic age," in which people are at risk of dying from common infections and routine surgeries carry enormous risks.

Yet there are very few new antibiotics in the pipeline, Peschel said.

Antibiotics aren't easy to develop. Many experimental ones prove too toxic to use in humans.The last new class of antibiotics was released more than 30 years ago. Antibiotics approved in recent years have been similar to others already in use, making it easier for bacteria to become resistant to them, doctors say.

Drug companies have little economic incentive to invest in new antibiotics, which can take a decade and more than $1 billion dollars to develop. Antibiotics, which are typically taken for a week or so, are far less profitable than drugs taken daily for many years, such as cholesterol medications.

Doctors haven't yet tested this new antibiotic in humans, Peschel said.