How a medieval ‘leechbook’ could be the latest cutting-edge treatment to beat superbugs

Could novel vaccines or even a medieval recipe for eye balm provide new ways to defeat the teeming armies of antibiotic-resistant superbugs?

There is no doubt we desperately need new solutions to tackle infectious bacteria: the World Health Organisation (WHO) lists antimicrobial resistance as a top ten global health threat, saying that by 2050 it will kill more people than cancer if resistance keeps rising at current rates … In April, the WHO warned that none of the 43 antibiotics now being developed can beat the world’s 13 most lethal bacteria, such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, both of which cause blood infections and pneumonia … read more