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New Antifungal Provides Hope in the Fight Against Superbugs (sciencedaily.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the going-viral dept.

dryriver shares news about the ongoing war against drug-resistant fungus. ScienceDaily reports: Microscopic yeast have been wreaking havoc in hospitals around the world -- creeping into catheters, ventilator tubes, and IV lines -- and causing deadly invasive infection. C. auris is particularly problematic because it loves hospitals, has developed resistance to a wide range of antifungals, and once it infects a patient doctors have limited treatment options.

But in a recent Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy study, researchers confirmed a new drug compound kills drug-resistant C. auris, both in the laboratory and in a mouse model that mimics human infection. The drug works through a novel mechanism. Unlike other antifungals that poke holes in yeast cell membranes or inhibit sterol synthesis, the new drug blocks how necessary proteins attach to the yeast cell wall. This means C. auris yeast can't grow properly and have a harder time forming drug-resistant communities that are a stubborn source of hospital outbreaks... The drug is first in a new class of antifungals, which could help stave off drug resistance.

33 comments

  1. Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by hey! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For reasons you can see by looking at the tree of life entry for Eukaryotes: fungi it turns out are much more closely related to animals than plants are, and of course plants are vastly more closely related to animals than bacteria or viruses. That makes it hard to find antifungals that have a high therapeutic index: the ratio of the quantity needed to produce toxicity over the quantity needed for therapeutic effect.

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    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Informative

      That makes it hard to find antifungals that have a high therapeutic index:

      But they do exist. For example, soaking your feet in a 75-25 mixture of white vinegar and generic Listerine (eucalyptus and menthol) will completely eradicate foot and nail fungus. You don't have to spend big money on creams or sprays, just buy a gallon of vinegar and a bottle of grocery store chain generic Listerine and soak your feet. You can even reuse the mixture.

      When my dad was really old, he got this nasty foot and nail fungus. Nothing seemed to help for long. His doctor (who happened to be from one of the countries Trump calls a "shithole") told me to try the vinegar foot soak. Worked like a charm, infection never came back.

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      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does work, for some people. but not me. I have had nailed fungus for over 20 yers, nothing helps, and I have tried a lot. Your father was one of the lucky ones.

    3. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by dgatwood · · Score: 3, Informative

      But they do exist. For example, soaking your feet in a 75-25 mixture of white vinegar and generic Listerine (eucalyptus and menthol) will completely eradicate foot and nail fungus. You don't have to spend big money on creams or sprays, just buy a gallon of vinegar and a bottle of grocery store chain generic Listerine and soak your feet. You can even reuse the mixture.

      The outer layers of your skin are dead anyway, so it doesn't matter if you cover it with poison (unless the poison happens to be absorbable transdermally). But if you drink enough of that 75-25 mixture of white vinegar and Listerine, you're probably going to die, and if you try to inhale it, you're almost definitely going to die.

      That's the problem; we don't just need antifungal medications to treat external infections, but also for fungi in places where they can't be killed chemically and washed away, like in people's lungs, intestines, etc.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    4. Re: Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I currently have a terrible fungal infection slowly taking over my left hand. I've been fighting it for just over a year. Topical antifungals won't touch it. Two weeks of oral anti fungals seems to work, but is so hard on your liver you need regular hepatic function blood panels. So yeah, I'm happy to see this.

    5. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 2

      Clearing up fungus in extremities is nonetheless a very useful treatment, especially for people with poor circulation or those recovering from poor foot care.

      The idea that it "doesn't matter if you cover your skin with poison" is in conflict with issues of absorption, and the kinds of skin cracks or even ulcers associated with very bad fungal infections.

    6. Re: Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by slickwillie · · Score: 1

      I got rid of a nasty fungus on my leg with Efudex. It's actually a chemotherapy drug that is used topically for skin cancer. None of the OTC or prescription antifungals worked so I thought I would try it and it cleared right up. I only applied it three times every other day instead of 2x a day for two weeks like prescribed for cancer. It blocks some RNA action in fast growing cells and it turns out fungus uses the same RNA to replicate. (Actually it kills all cells, It just kills the fast growing ones quicker. You get a nasty rash when used normally.) I doubt your doctor would prescribe it though.

    7. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      If the country isn't a shithole, then why isn't your friend the doctor there today helping his own people? Why'd he come to the most racist xenophobic nation on the planet to live and give the deplorable bigots who live there the benefit of his skills?

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      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    8. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because extreme racists are only a small vocal minority. Most people are always good at heart and mean well to others.

      The right thing is always to follow your heart even if it means helping those who want to hurt you, not to turn and run away out of fear or hatred of others' hurtful views.

      We lose sight of this on the internet where you are ignored if you don't provide an extreme view of some sort.

      Captcha: inhuman

    9. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good doctors/surgeons don't stop their education once they've attained their highest "grade", so maybe he was spending a few years in the US to train and as you can't live easily for free, he had to work while he was there. It's also the case that your country wasn't always such a racist and xenophobic place; those traits have always existed and obviously the US isn't alone in that, but the last election there - and the EU vote here in the UK - certainly seems to have given the regressives the feeling that they can shout their stupidity from the rooftops. Personally I think it's too late to convince these people; my choice would be chain gangs to at least get some use out of them, but as they seem to only produce bile I can't think for the life of me what we would do with it all.

    10. Re:Safe anti-fungals are are hard to find. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Man these people are so intolerant, I just can't tolerate it! We should just send them all to gulag so I don't have to deal with them and their badthink"

  2. Super-Bug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, it this for Lex Luther Bug information?

  3. Hey! I know what eukaryotes are! by halivar · · Score: 1

    They're those little blob things you tried to evolve past as soon as you could.

    1. Re: Hey! I know what eukaryotes are! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going to mix this stuff into the feed at my pig farm. If a little is good, more must be better!

    2. Re:Hey! I know what eukaryotes are! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hate to break it to you, but you haven't.

  4. Great and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    They had better reserve the use of this stuff to hospitals and strictly control the way it is used because otherwise it will take agribusiness all of six months to render this anti-fungal useless by using it by the tanker load to try and cut down on livestock wastage and prolong the shelf life of their products to boost profit margins by 0.3% or something. That is how they managed to render useless several anti viral drugs, by feeding them to chickens on industrial farms by the barrel full.

    1. Re: Great and ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Antifungal and antiviral are different.
      Much like how your viewpoints and reality are different.

  5. Obligatory XKCD by cmseagle · · Score: 1

    When you see a claim that a common drug or vitamin "kills cancer cells in petri dish," keep in mind: so does a handgun.

    Yeah, I know - this apparently works in mice models so it's a little different. Still feels relevant.

    1. Re:Obligatory XKCD by HiThere · · Score: 1

      If the summary is correct, this doesn't kill the bacteria, it prevents them from attaching. This might not cause the same kind of evolutionary pressure to evolve away from the effect.

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      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    2. Re:Obligatory XKCD by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Fungi, not bacteria. And if parasitic fungi can't attach, they die.

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      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re:Obligatory XKCD by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Mmmm. Your point about fungi is definitely correct. I'm not certain that you're right about that killing them, but you could be. With bacteria that generally just slows them down.

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      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  6. Re:As Trump visits Hillary & Obama cronies the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many show what Jones literally did in those links right from CNN https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22CNN+Admits+Trump+Is+Right+About+FBI+Witchhunt%22&t=hf&ia=web/ I believe them more than I do you and your heroin junkie or methhead kind that would sell their mother and country for another fix of dope.

  7. Re: As Trump visits Hillary & Obama cronies th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US army will roll into California and arrest the governor for insurrection. Reason; for opening boarders and protecting illegal aliens. Thus, Civil War 2 is sparked. Itâ(TM)s about fucking time too if that happens. Having people from shithole nations vote in a bunch of power hungry communists will not be tolerated!!!!

  8. Let them make one against Nail Fungus too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I will buy and try it. I have had nail fungus for over 20 years, and nothing helps against it.

  9. Quick! by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

    Give it to McDonalds ASAP to feed their cows in massive numbers so they can get an increase the shareprice before it's too late!

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    http://saveie6.com/