Hospital superbugs: Could one vaccine rule them all?

One vaccine that would cure any and all hospital bugs sounds too good to be true. Hospital

superbugs are strains of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi commonly contracted during

one’s visit to the hospital. These superbugs pose a big problem in hospitals as the infections

they cause are hard to treat or impossible and they spread from patient to patient. They threaten

modern medicine as they are resistant to the antibiotics used during treatments and surgeries,

as well as increasing hospital bills and patient stays. One in every thirty-one patients battles a

bug they received in the hospital while there for a different health issue.

This article is an example of bad science, although it does hold some truth. For one, the study

conducted was done on mice. We are still a ways away from human trials. In this study, a single

dose of the vaccine was administered in mice, and this dose provided protection against nine

superbugs. This vaccine acts like an early warning system, where it alerts the immune system

to keep an eye out for anything “suspicious”. Although this vaccine stays on high alert for nine

superbugs, the World Health Organization has identified twelve superbugs that are labeled as

“priority”. So this “vaccine” does not cover “them all”, especially as the researchers noted that

they did only test for the nine, and they need to undergo more studies to find if it is able to

prevent other healthcare-associated infections. The title is misleading, as it leads the audience

to believe that one singular vaccine can cure any superbug. Brian Luna, an assistant professor

of molecular microbiology and immunology at USC states “Even if there were such vaccines,

multiple vaccines would have to be deployed simultaneously to protect against the full slate of

antibiotic-resistant microbes that cause healthcare-acquired infections”. So the conception of

“one” vaccine” ruling them all is also not competeley accurate. This vaccine also wouldn’t be

something that every person admitted would be able to get as it triggers the immune system

and with some conditions this would not be recommended as it could worsen their state. There

are still no FDA-approved vaccines that prevent the worst of the antiobiotic-resistant superbugs,

and the deeper you look into this issue, the more you realize that there is no concrete evidence

to support the title fully.

Superbugs are something the world of medicine is concerned about, as they grow and spread

rapidly, and are drug-resistant. Superbugs developing so quickly can be traced back to the

overuse of antibiotics, and the development of a vaccine that prevents infections from

happening in the first place will be very beneficial in the field of medicine. Bacteria will always

find ways to outsmart medicine (antiobiotics), so by decreasing infections aquired in the

hospitals, we would also be decreasing antiobiotics needed, which ultimately is also decreasing

antibiotic resistance. Researchers are making groundbreaking discoveries, and although there

are yet to be human trials, steps are being taken in the right direction.

“Donna Ross” (6)

​​“Hospital Superbugs: Could One Vaccine Rule Them All?” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 4 Oct.

2023, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231004150336.htm.