Smart dressings may beat infections

Smart dressing 'fights antibiotic resistance' caught my eye Monday but it was not what I thought.

I wondered, but only briefly, how your appearance could affect antibiotic resistance. The truth is the news is regarding dressings for wounds.

In what could be a great step forward scientists at Bath University have discovered that "A medical dressing that changes colour when it detects infection could cut the unnecessary use of antibiotics."

Antibiotics were once upon a time touted as miraculous but overprescribing of the 'wonder drug' was self-defeating.

Bugs morphed into super-bugs and infections leaving standard antibiotics unable to cope.

Horror stories of wounds infected with MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, resulted in amputated limbs for some of those affected.

Researches have been working on developing a new wave of super antibiotics to cope with the super bugs but the development of 'smart dressings' could prove a huge step forward.

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The current standard practice is to prescribe antibiotics for many wounds including burns before a diagnosis is confirmed. This is because removing dressings too soon can be painful for the patient and increase the amount of scarring.

Enter smart dressing.

Monday BBC News reports about smart dressing:

It works by releasing fluorescent dye from tiny capsules when toxins are given out by bacteria in a wound.

This allows doctors to identify bacterial infections and treat them more quickly, particularly in children with burns.

Researchers said it could help to save lives.

Children with burn wounds are particularly susceptible to bacterial infections because of their immature immune systems.

These infections can slow the healing of wounds, leading to longer stays in hospital and sometimes permanent scarring. In severe cases, infections can kill.

Leading the project into smart dressings is Dr Toby Jenkins, reader in biophysical chemistry at Bath; the research team has been awarded almost £1m by the Medical Research Council and it sounds like this time it may be money well spent.

Tests into the actual dressings continue with protoypes.