Despite this intense work into finding ways to break up biofilms, it's not clear that scientists will easily find a way to thwart these tenacious structures. "I'm not aware of anything that looks to me like a home run," Ehrlich says. "Biofilms are the preferred mode of growth for most bacteria -- they've been doing it for literally billions of years."
He and colleagues are looking toward prevention rather than treatment. In the case of middle-ear infections, for instance, they believe that giving children specially engineered probiotics, or "good" bacteria, early in life may help prevent infectious bacteria from settling down in the ears in the first place.
Whatever the best cure turns out to be, though, this finding -- that biofilms may underlie ear and other chronic infections -- suggests that trying to treat them with rounds of conventional antibiotics is futile, and only promotes drug resistance. Bill Costerton, director of the University of Southern California's Center for Biofilms, calls this study a "pivotal paper" that will change the way these infections are treated and persuade doctors, particularly those in the United States, to "stop throwing antibiotics at biofilm infections that are basically resistant."
Comments
I think that the basic substance of the biofilm must lend itself to disolution thus unbinding the rascals and freeing them for annihilation.
Seems you need to find the right surfactant.
How about dishwashing liquid that would start to break the surface tension and go on to dissolve the binding. How about a direct sterile injection into the infected area, like a flood that you keep "topped up" for a couple of days to complete the task.
What about recurrence?/ That is the big problem.
07/14/2006
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When I had mid-ear infection as a child, my granny warmed up a tea spoon of cooking oil (!), poured it in me ear and plugged with cotton. I was always OK the next day.
07/20/2006
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