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By Nancy Lapid, Health Science Editor

Hello Health Rounds readers! A bacteria deemed a top priority by the World Health Organization and the U.S. CDC may have met its match – an antibiotic with a new method of action being developed by scientists at Swiss drugmaker Roche. We also feature research that appears to answer one of the many COVID-related mysteries, and a study that found use of hearing aids may reduce mortality in those with hearing loss.

In breaking news, see these stories from our Reuters journalists: Mask mandates return at some U.S. hospitals as COVID, flu jump; Consumer Reports finds ‘widespread’ presence of plastics in food; FDA ordered to reconsider denial of approval for vape products; Texas can ban emergency abortions despite federal guidance, court rules; and Brazilian city begins first mass vaccination against dengue.

A study by Consumer Reports published on Thursday found that 84 of 85 recently-tested supermarket foods and fast foods contained “plasticizers” known as phthalates, a chemical used to make plastic more durable. (The plastic goods in this photo weigh a total of 2.7 kilograms, or about 6 pounds, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in ten years, researchers in Japan had earlier estimated.) REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A new class of antibiotics identified and being developed by Roche tackles dangerous drug-resistant bacteria using a novel method of germ-killing, researchers reported on Wednesday in the online edition of Nature.

The new antibiotic called zosurabalpin targets a species of Gram-negative bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), which has been classified as a priority 1 critical pathogen by the World Health Organization and an urgent threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gram-negative bacteria are difficult to kill because their outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules that make it resistant to penetration by existing antibiotics. Zosurabalpin traps LPS molecules inside the microbes and prevents these key building blocks from reaching the outer membrane of the bacterium.

This unique mode of action is “striking a target that no FDA-approved drugs hit,” according to a commentary by researchers at the University of Illinois who were not involved in the discovery.

Zosurabalpin has effectively treated more than 100 different samples of highly drug-resistant CRAB in test tubes and in mice, the Roche team reported.

In a separate paper, a team at Harvard University explains precisely how zosurabalpin traps LPS molecules inside the CRAB microbes, and identifies features of the LPS transport mechanism that might be good targets for development of similar compounds directed against other Gram-negative bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli.

Trials of zosurabalpin in humans are already underway, but “clearing the initial phase of clinical trials will be only the beginning,” an accompanying editorial noted. “Further studies will then be needed to assess the risk of resistance to zosurabalpin emerging in clinical settings.”

Read more about antibiotic resistance on Reuters.com

• Pfizer says its experimental antibiotic combo can treat some superbug infections
• Some bloodstream infection bacteria grew resistant to last-resort drugs in 2020 – WHO

Researchers have discovered a biological cause for the persistent fatigue that plagues people with long COVID.

Their muscle cells produce less energy than those in healthy patients, according to a report published on Thursday in Nature Communications.

“We saw various abnormalities in the muscle tissue of the patients. At the cellular level, we saw that the mitochondria of the muscle, also known as the energy factories of the cell, function less well and that they produce less energy,” senior researcher Rob Wust of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam said in a statement.

The researchers asked 25 long-COVID patients and 21 healthy volunteers to cycle for 15 minutes, or to the point of exhaustion. They looked at blood samples and muscle biopsy tissue one week before the cycling test and one day afterward.

The cycling caused a long-term worsening of symptoms in people with long COVID, called post-exertional malaise. Symptoms included muscle pain, greater severity of fatigue, and cognitive symptoms lasting up to seven days, according to the report.

“The cause of the fatigue is really biological. The brain needs energy to think. Muscles need energy to move. This discovery means we can now start to research an appropriate treatment for those with long COVID,” coauthor Michele van Vugt of Amsterdam UMC said in a statement.

The researchers did not see any evidence of coronavirus particles remaining in the muscles of volunteers with long COVID, nor did they detect abnormalities in these patients’ heart or lungs.

Exercising is not always good for patients with long COVID, the researchers said.

“We advise these patients to guard their physical limits and not to exceed them,” study leader Brent Appelman of Amsterdam UMC said in a statement. “Keep in mind that every patient has a different limit.”

Regular use of hearing aids may help adults with hearing loss live longer, a new study suggests.

Between 1999 and 2019, researchers tracked 9,885 volunteers, about 15% of whom had documented hearing loss. The average age at enrollment was about 49.

During follow-up for an average of roughly 10 years, after taking other risk factors into account, the odds of death were 40% higher overall for those with hearing loss, researchers reported on Wednesday in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

About 13% of those with hearing loss reported regular use of hearing aids. For them, the adjusted mortality risk was 24% lower than it was for people with hearing loss who never used hearing aids, researchers found.

There was no difference in mortality between those who used the devices on rare occasions and never-users.

While previous studies have linked hearing loss with higher mortality rates, the current observational study does not prove hearing aids mitigate that risk.

“It is possible that individuals with access to hearing care are healthier and have a higher socioeconomic status, which are factors that might be independently associated with reduced risk of mortality,” according to an accompanying editorial.

Still, the researchers say, their results suggest doctors “should continue to promote regular hearing aid use among adults with hearing loss when indicated.”

Study leader Dr. Janet Choi, an otolaryngologist with Keck Medicine of USC, was born with moderate hearing loss in one ear but did not wear a hearing aid until adulthood because her parents feared she would be stigmatized.

“After hearing aid trial, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it helped my communication,” she said.

“It may take time to find the hearing aids that fit you and get used to it,” she said. “Once you do, you’ll be amazed to hear the sounds that you have been missing.”

This newsletter was edited by Bill Berkrot.

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