Massey University scientist Professor Bernd Rehm examines bacterial cells used in a study that could yield a vaccine against an emerging deadly virus. Photo / Supplied
Massey University scientist Professor Bernd Rehm examines bacterial cells used in a study that could yield a vaccine against an emerging deadly virus. Photo / Supplied
Research led by a Kiwi scientist could yield a vaccine against an emerging deadly pathogen that has proven resistant to various treatments.
The possible strategy for a new vaccine has been developed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a pathogen which causes severe wound and lung infections in patients with weak immune systems.
The infection typically infects the airway, urinary tract, burns, and wounds, and also causes other blood infections.
The pathogen was listed earlier this year on the World Health Organisation's first list of antibiotic-resistant "priority pathogens" in the most critical category because of the severe infections and high mortality rates.
It comes at a time when scientists and clinicians are becoming increasingly worried about bacteria and other pathogens, which are evolving to resist drugs at a rate outpacing the development of new medicines.
Study leader Professor Bernd Rehm, of Massey University's Institute of Fundamental Sciences, said the risks were high with the pathogen as there was no vaccine available to protect against it.
"This bacterial pathogen is found all over and is accepted worldwide as a public health risk due to its increasing infection rates combined with its ability to develop resistances to multiple classes of antibiotics," Rehm said.
"Due to a range of mechanisms for adaptation, survival and resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics, infections by this bacterium can be life threatening and it is emerging worldwide as a public health threat.
"This is the first study investigating the immunological properties of natural polymer particles formed inside pathogenic bacteria and the first to utilise these particles as carriers of the pathogen's own antigens to be used as a particulate vaccine; in other words fighting the pathogen with its own weapons."
The bacterium worked by attaching itself to a person's wound or lung tissue and producing a dense and slimy alginate biofilm, where bacteria could embed themselves and stay protected from the body's immune system.
An illustration of the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Photo / 123RF
A second study focused on the pathogen has also been published, and looks to highlight the mechanisms that enable it to survive various hostile conditions such as during pathogenesis and antibiotic treatment.
The pathogen had shown a remarkable capability to become resilient to treatment, with the only therapy routinely defeated by bacterial resiliency. Unfortunately, Rehm said, the processes that allowed them to do so were poorly understood.
"The pathogen's adaptive capability relies on complex signal processing pathways that enable the bacteria to perceive and process environmental cues in order orchestrate physiological changes to promote adaptation to unfavourable conditions."
The study suggested that all research into the pathogen should consider international co-ordinated multidisciplinary programmes, with results of laboratory outputs being deposited in centralised, accessible databases to expedite advances in control of infections and its implementation into clinical settings.
"A future outlook emphasises the need for collaborative international multidisciplinary efforts to translate current knowledge into strategies to prevent and treat these infections, while reducing the rate of antibiotic resistance and avoiding the spreading of resistant strains," Rehm said.
"This should provide healthcare experts with appropriate guidelines for managing bacterial infections and preventing the rate and spread of resistant strains."
Rehm and his colleagues suggest further research needs to be done on identifying new drugs, and developing new alternative prevention and treatment strategies for interfering with key regulatory pathways.
Beating the bugs: The 'antibiotic apocalypse'
• Already, an estimated 700,000-plus people worldwide die each year due to drug-resistant infections. But the effect could be much more devastating when even today's easily-treatable diseases are found harder to combat.
• In a series of recent reports commissioned by former British Prime Minister David Cameron, economist Sir Jim O'Neill estimated that without urgent action, anti-microbial resistance would kill 10 million people a year by 2050, more than will die from cancer.
• O'Neill also put an economic cost on the catastrophe, estimating that inaction would cost the world's economy $138 trillion by 2050. The World Health Organisation characterises the problem as one of the biggest threats to global health today.
