Research Shows How Superbug E. coli Clones Dominate the Human Gut

(Newswire.net — April 18, 2022) Orlando, FL — Today, researchers are increasingly warning against antimicrobial resistance. It is a growing health issue worldwide and is found to affect more and more people each day. 

According to a study spearheaded by the University of Birmingham, a superbug clone of E.coli has evolved to the point of preventing itself from turning highly dominant that it could potentially wipe out the bacteria from existence. 

The investigators looked into how and why the E.coli clone called ST131, which is dubbed a superbug due to its resistance to multiple drugs, had turned out to be a major cause of drug-resistant E.coli infection. 

However, it is not so dominant that it has destroyed other clones that are without multi-drug resistance. It is worth noting that E.coli is a type of bacteria that is common in human and animal intestines. 

There are actually a number of different types of E.coli and while it is true that most of them are harmless, some can trigger serious food poisoning or infections like the ones affecting the urinary tract. 

From 2012 to 2013, it has been found that the number of cases of E.coli has increased by 27 percent from 32,309 to 41,060 from 2017 to 2018. 

“The most globally dominant clone of E. coli that is resistant to multiple drugs is called ST131,” Dr. Alan McNally, of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Microbiology and Infection, said. 

“Earlier research has shown that while ST131 emerged and rapidly spread in the late 1990s, it caused no more than 20% of clinical cases of E. coli once it had emerged on the scene.”

The findings of this study have revealed that this is because of a type of evolutionary selection known as negative frequency dependency selection (NFDS).

“Essentially, there’s no benefit to anyone clone becoming the only clone in existence as, if this were to happen and all other clones of E.coli disappeared then something happened to the dominant clone, E.coli would disappear altogether.”

The findings were published in mBio. 

There are many other studies looking into E.coli and how it can be prevented from wreaking havoc on health. In cases of urinary tract infections, it is recommended to use a therapeutic sugar called D-mannose.

There are formulas that are increasingly gaining popularity in the global market today, and one is Divine Bounty D-mannose. This therapeutic supplement is accurately labeled and free from nasty ingredients and contaminants. 

It offers 600 mg of superior-quality D-mannose per capsule and even has cranberry and dandelion extracts. (www.amazon.com/D-Mannose-600mg-Cranberry-Dandelion-Extract/dp/B01LX5KGF0)