First new antibiotic in 50 years could help treat superbug labelled ‘urgent threat'
Yesterday, Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, announced it will take zosurabalpin into the third and last phase of testing on humans.
It is the first drug in five decades to show promise of tackling Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen which is described as a 'priority' by the World Health Organisation and an 'urgent threat' by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the US national public health agency.
The drug-resistant bacteria disproportionately impact patients who are in the hospital, causing infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.
It is estimated that between 40pc and 60pc of infected patients, many of whom are immunocompromised because of conditions such as cancer, die as a result of the bug.
One of the reasons it is so difficult to treat is that it has a double-walled 'membrane' protecting it from attack, so it is difficult to get drugs into it and to keep them in, experts said.
Zosurabalpin, which has been developed alongside researchers at Harvard University, targets the 'machine' which stops the outer membrane from forming properly. It works differently to all existing antibiotics and it is hoped that it could lay the foundations for future drugs.
'Our goal is to contribute new innovations to overcome antimicrobial resistance, one of the biggest infectious disease challenges to public health,' Michael Lobritz, global head infectious diseases at Roche, said.
The phase-three trial, which it is hoped will start later this year or in early 2026, will look at around 400 patients with a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii (Crab) infection who will either receive zosurabalpin or the current standard of care.
It is hoped that the drug will be approved by the end of the decade.
Pharmaceutical companies have in the past been unwilling to pursue new antibiotics because of a difficult market in which the drugs are used sparingly to try and avoid resistance.
However, the UN has warned that if nothing is done to address the issue, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050.
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The Journal
8 hours ago
- The Journal
'If I turn off my phone, no-one would miss me': Our readers on being lonely
'I'M 63 AND for my whole life as far back as I can remember, I have been lonely.' The experience of this reader from Dublin is one that is shared by thousands of people around the globe. The World Health Organisation has found that loneliness affects nearly one in six people worldwide , while a separate EU study named Ireland as the loneliest country in Europe . The Dublin reader told us that she has struggled throughout her life to find someone she could trust and be herself around 'instead of always putting on a show and hoping to fit in'. 'I have never had a close friend who I could just be me around. No one really knows me because for over 60 years, I've been trying to be someone I'm not.' Several readers responded when we asked you to tell us how the loneliness crisis was affecting you. Our thanks to everyone who got in touch. Here's what you told us. 'I don't know how to ask for help' A reader in his 40s living in the south of the country said he has a 'deep rooted sense of loneliness' and has no one to turn to in times of joy or sadness. 'Childhood trauma impacts me daily and my 'escape' has been isolation and never seeking help or support from anyone. I simply don't know how to ask for it without feeling guilty,' he said. He keeps 'multiple plates spinning in the air' at all times and never sits down for long enough to avoid thinking of how lonely he feels. 'However, nighttime is when the thoughts and loneliness really kicks in – scrolling, flashbacks, questioning all my interactions over the day. If I turn off my phone for a long period, no one would know or miss me.' A 42-year-old reader who lives alone in a rural area said that she fears that she is losing her social skills 'like an unused muscle'. 'Whilst Irish people are unfailingly friendly to chat casually with, they are not easy to make friends with,' she said. The reader said she does not have children, so can't meet people through sports or parent groups, and while she has joined different evening classes, she can't seem to make connections beyond polite conversation. 'I'm inevitably left feeling awkward. While friends who came together stick together, I find myself shuffling away to the carpark alone, already dreading the next weeks outing. After I finish work on a Friday, I don't talk to anyone except shop staff until work again on Monday morning. But she added: 'I've been in a damaging relationship that lasted well beyond its sell-by date due to the subconscious nagging feeling that this was as good as it gets. Alone is better in this circumstance.' 'I always had to be the one to keep in touch' One reader recently moved back home after living in the UK for over 20 years following the death of her partner. She said she did her best to keep in touch with friends and family, but 'I always had to be the one keeping the contact going'. 'I thought after putting years of effort in of keeping contact going with friends and family, it would pay off. In reality it hasn't. I get it. Life goes on, life gets busy and people change,' she said. Having had a large circle of friends in Ireland, now she does not hear from anyone unless she contacts them. 'Don't get me wrong, I'm very lucky. I have great family around me that have been so supportive and picked me up when I was broken… I just know that since I've moved home, I struggle with loneliness.' Another reader in her 50s said that she was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition some years ago. She has been waiting to have spinal surgery for three years and is no longer able to work. As a result, her mobility has reduced and she has had to give up most of her hobbies and activities, which 'not only deprives me of social interaction, but it also makes the days long'. 'I find myself watching the time, waiting for it to be a reasonable time to go to bed and put an end to yet another interminably long and boring day,' she said. I feel totally invisible and over the years, I have become to feel unworthy of people's friendship because I have nothing to give in return. I am a liability, a burden to anyone who does get to know me. She said that as everyone has their own life to get on with and their own problems to deal with, 'most are too busy to notice that some of us are slowly drowning'. 'I sometimes look back at my old life – university, a successful career, no financial worries, lots of social interaction… It's like looking back at someone else – it doesn't feel like I could possibly have been that person.' Advertisement 'I really miss company' For some readers, having to go into lockdown after the Covid-19 pandemic hit meant that their world got smaller and they became isolated as a result. Mary said that her husband of 50 years died on St Stephen's Day in 2019. As the pandemic took hold a few months later, it meant she very quickly couldn't see anyone after his death. 'I am so lonely. I miss him and our life together so much,' Mary said. She said she goes out nearly every day as she has a young dog that needs lots of exercise, but never really meets anyone she know besides the people who work in the local shop. The summer is not so bad with the long evenings, but the winter is tough. I am a social person so I really miss company. Keith, a reader in his 40s from Westmeath, said he was working in the motor trade up until August 2019, when a driver fell asleep behind him on the M4. 'I woke up in the hospital two weeks later with a third of a lung gone, 11 fractured vertebrae, nerve damage,' he said. 'Looking back, I do not know how we got through it. It was impossibly bleak.' He began physio shortly before lockdown in March 2020. 'Appointments vanished, social media felt like rubbing salt into the wound, so I deleted everything and shrank my world to my partner, daughter, our dog, and cats.' Keith said that while he loves his family, most days he is 'the classic Aldi ghost: shuffling aisles and praying no one tries small talk'. 'Sometimes I realise I haven't spoken aloud since my partner left for work. This email is the longest thing I've shared outside therapy in years. 'Inside, I'm desperately lonely' Another female reader said she has gone from 'an extraordinary sociable girl' to 'a very lonely woman' after a number of life-changing events, including the birth of her children, the Covid pandemic, and the end of her marriage. 'I appear to always be in control and the life of the party, but inside I'm desperately lonely,' she said. 'I find it easy to be funny and on the periphery, but I'm very scared that if I know anyone on any deep level, they will be sucked into the dripping blackness of my isolation. So I crack jokes, make out that everything fine, make sure that others are okay, while ignoring my own needs. Motherhood, Covid and separation are a very heady mix and I probably will not get over any of them. A 25-year-old reader said he has felt alone for a long time. He works most days and tries to put on a mask, 'but inside, I feel hollow and dead'. 'I genuinely feel depressed all the time and feel like my so-called friends don't understand. I drink and smoke a lot to get me through days. 'In life, relationships and even at social events and work, I struggle every day.' The reader said he has self harmed many times and has attempted to take his own life. While his family and councillors have helped him through this, 'it's a struggle through everyday as the loneliness is like a black hole'. He encouraged other people who feel alone to reach out to someone. 'It's the only reason I'm able to write this email.' 'As a man, it's harder to make friends' For other readers, aging has meant feeling increasingly lonely. Michael, a 42-year-old reader from Dublin, said that as he has gotten older, his circle of friends has 'gone away' and he now only sees friends around once a year. 'As a man, it's harder to make new social circles. People have less time and stick to what they know. I've tried to reach out to people, but out of sight, out of mind, so I gave up,' he said. 'The lack of friends makes me feel uncared for and unimportant, which puts me in a very dark place. Sometimes you think 'what's the point?''. A single reader in her 50s has also noticed that 'when you get older, you are in danger of becoming sidelined both socially and at work'. 'I have cried at being 'ghosted' by people who have decided that there must be something wrong with me, because I haven't settled down and had children,' she said. However, the reader said that lockdown was the making of her as she realised how well she can enjoy her own company'. She now reads a lot and gets involved in community affairs, not looking to make friends 'but if I do get friendly with people, that's a bonus'. To anyone else who feels lonely, she said: 'Look after your health, work on yourself and like the good stuff that makes you the person you are. 'Help when you can, but don't overextend yourself and remember – ghosters, mean people and snobs are not worth your time and energy.' If you have been affected by any issues raised within this article, support is available here: Samaritans – 116 123 or email jo@ Pieta House – 1800 247 247 or email mary@ (suicide, self-harm) Aware – 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety) Teen-Line Ireland – 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 18) Childline – 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s) SpunOut – text SPUNOUT to 50808 or visit Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Treatment of seriously ill Gaza children in Ireland stalls over visa concerns
A plan to evacuate 18 seriously ill children from Gaza to Ireland for potentially life-saving treatment has stalled because of Government concerns about granting special visas to the children's siblings. Three people familiar with the ongoing mission to bring sick children from Gaza to Ireland have confirmed they were told that the next evacuation is on hold until the visa issue is resolved. Several children who had been listed for treatment since the Government first agreed to start evacuating paediatric patients in 2024 have since died. Last September, the Cabinet agreed to bring up to 30 sick children and their mothers or carers to Ireland for treatment. Children listed for treatment here are suffering from serious conditions like cancer and kidney failure. READ MORE So far, 12 sick children have been flown via Egypt to Ireland in two sensitive operations in December and May. These were co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation, several Government departments, the Health Service Executive, Children's Health Ireland and the Red Cross. The paediatric patients have been accompanied by either a mother or a carer, and 21 other accompanying family members. In several cases, it was recognised for humanitarian reasons that a sick child's siblings could not be left behind in a war zone without a guardian. The Department of Health said all 45 Gazans, including mothers and siblings of paediatric patients, have received medical care for 'illnesses incurred as a result of living conditions in Gaza'. All have received Stamp 4 Visas, which grant them special permission to remain here for a specified time. Concerns have emerged about awarding those visas to patients' siblings between the departments of justice and health. One Government source said the medevac scheme is not operating 'as it was intended to'. Two sources who are familiar with the operation confirmed that they were told by officials in the Department of Health that the next evacuation cannot proceed until the visa issue is resolved. Thomas Donnelly, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Temple Street Children's Hospital, said he was one of a group of clinicians who held a meeting with the Department of Health about the medevac operation last month. 'We were told that no further evacuations would take place because of the disagreement about visas between the Department of Health and the Department of Justice,' he said. 'I specifically said that my waiting list is decreasing and no current patients would be affected by taking some of these patients on. Still, we were thanked for our 'restraint' and told there was nothing to be done because of the visa issue. 'Since then, children on our list to be evacuated have been killed and more will be killed while Government officials twiddle their thumbs. Only 12 children have been evacuated since the conflict began. This is shamefully low. We ask the Government to stop this needless delay asap so that these medical evacuations can resume.' The Department of Justice said that there have been 'no delays' in the 'processing' of visas for the medevac scheme. The Department of Health said that it is 'engaged with the Department of Justice in relation to visas for entry to Ireland, border control and registration for permission to stay in the state'. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday wrote to Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris, raising concerns that only 12 of 30 sick children had been evacuated from Gaza so far. 'It is of real concern to me that the Government is not applying the urgency to which the situation demands in evacuating the remaining 18 of 30 patients – all of whom are vulnerable and in desperate need of treatment and care,' wrote Ms McDonald.
The Irish Sun
27-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
World Health Organisation admits they STILL have no idea what caused Covid pandemic – but refuses to rule out lab leak
A LEADING theory that the Covid pandemic originated from a lab leak in China cannot be ruled out, the World Health Organisation said. A Advertisement 7 China's Wuhan lab has been at the centre of the lab leak theory since Covid emerged just miles from the facility 7 Staff members line up at attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station 7 Dr Shi Zhengli - dubbed 'Batwoman' for her research on bat coronaviruses - at the Wuhan Institute of Virology The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (Sago) said on Friday that most data suggests the This is the same Watch the documentary in full on our YouTube channel Their new But they added: "Nor can it be proven until more information is provided." Advertisement Group chair Marietjie Venter said after three years of investigating, they were unable to come to a certain They blasted China for not releasing all necessary data to determine Covid's creation - despite hundreds of requests for genetic sequences and biosecurity information to the She Venter: "Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded. "It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science." Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Venter said the 27-member group could not reach a unanimous conclusion on Three other scientists also asked for their names to be removed from the new report. I was in Oval Office with Trump at start of pandemic - no one was closer to Chinese officials than me & I believe Covid was engineered in lab Covid-19 emerged just eight miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Scientists there had been importing and manipulating bat coronaviruses and had been filmed handling animals with inadequate protection. Advertisement Venter added that there was no evidence proving Covid was created in a lab, nor was there any indication it was spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. She said: "Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive." Beijing has consistently refused to release full details about the lab in Wuhan, despite repeated requests for information from multiple countries. 7 A woman wearing a face mask holds a baby that wears a protective shield in Wuhan Advertisement 7 The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan Credit: AFP 7 Covid killed millions worldwide in the pandemic It comes after The Sun's explosive Covid lab leak documentary laid bare the mounting evidence and disturbing questions surrounding the virus's emergence in Wuhan - home to China's most secretive bio-research facility. In April, the US unveiled a bombshell new Advertisement And in a fresh propaganda push, Beijing insisted "substantial evidence" showed Covid "might have emerged in the United States earlier than its officially-claimed timeline, and earlier than the outbreak in China". The document - titled Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China's Actions and Stance - was released via China's official Xinhua news agency. It unashamedly accused the US of "indifference and delayed actions" during the global Covid fight - and of scapegoating China to deflect from its own "mismanaged" response. It wrote: "The US has made China the primary scapegoat for its own mismanaged COVID-19 response." Advertisement 7 Security guards keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology The report added that America was 'spreading misinformation' and wasted 'precious time China had secured for the global fight against the pandemic". It revived Beijing's long-standing claims that it shared information with the world in a "timely manner". Advertisement The paper added: 'The US should not continue to 'pretend to be deaf and dumb', but should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community.' Read more on the Irish Sun In May Donald Trump banned all US funding for risky virus research in China and beyond, five years after Covid-19 upended the planet. The US President said in the Oval Office last month: 'I said that right from day one it leaked out — whether it was to the girlfriend or somebody else, [a] scientist walked outside to have lunch with the girlfriend or was together with a lot of people — but that's how it leaked out in my opinion ." The Sun's investigation into the origins of Covid 'Smoking gun' docs show Pentagon US government Wuhan Covid 'lab leak' firm Covid was Crumbling sewers, no PPE, & filthy cages – Wuhan Covid 'lab leak' scientists China's Secret memo shows how Wuhan lab chief France
