Researchers discover new form of antimicrobial resistance

Australian researchers have uncovered a new form of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – undetectable using traditional laboratory testing methods – in a discovery set to challenge existing efforts to monitor and tackle one of the world’s greatest health threats.

Now, a team led by Dr Timothy Barnett, from The University of Western Australia’s School of Biomedical Sciences and Head of the Strep A Pathogenesis and Diagnostics team at the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Telethon Kids Institute, has unearthed a critical clue to the way some bacteria are managing to dodge antibiotics – a finding expected to be the tip of the iceberg.