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StaphAseptic™ News
Scientists turn DNA detectives to track spread of hospital superbugs
January 4, 2010
Times Online
By Mark Henderson, Science Editor
The genetic fingerprints of germs are to be mapped to open a new front in the battle against hospital superbugs.
Scientists have embarked on an ambitious project to read the complete genetic codes of pathogens taken from hundreds of people, so that DNA can be used to track the spread of infection and to identify the source of outbreaks of disease. Much as detectives use DNA to place suspects at crime scenes, the database will help doctors to determine the route by which patients with MRSA and Clostridium difficile have picked up these bacteria, and thus to control infection.
When a patient falls ill with MRSA, the germ's DNA will be sequenced, and compared with samples in the database. This should help to determine whether the infection was present when the patient was admitted to hospital or whether it was acquired on the ward. The information will help doctors to decide what must be done to stop the outbreak. This approach could even allow scientists to establish whether individual nurses or doctors are spreading disease through poor hygiene, by matching DNA from patients' germs to samples from the skin or clothing of staff.
Large databases of genetic information about germs will also provide powerful insights into their biology, which promise to help the development of diagnosis and treatment.
This is a portion of the orignal article. To keep reading visit Timesonline.com
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