According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 10 million people contract tuberculosis (TB) each year—one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. Treatment is lengthy and typically involves a combination of several antibiotics over many months. Particularly problematic are drug-resistant strains, against which the antibiotics used are only partially effective. New active compounds capable of overcoming existing resistance are therefore urgently needed. An international team led by the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), the Institut Pasteur and Université Paris Cité has now demonstrated that the natural compound corramycin has a previously unknown effect against the tuberculosis pathogen and attacks it in a novel way. The researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

A single vaccination that provides protection for many years – so far, this has rarely been possible with vaccines against respiratory pathogens. Regular booster shots are often necessary. Dr. Henning Jacobsen and Casper Silvis from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) want to change that. As part of the ENDURIVAC project, they are developing a vaccine technology designed to provide long-lasting protection after just one dose. In this episode of the HZI podcast InFact, they explain how the technology works, why it is initially being used to develop a vaccine against RSV and whether booster shots could largely become unnecessary in the future.

Tonsillitis, bacterial pneumonia or a middle ear infection? For decades, we could easily treat infections like these with antibiotics. However, as bacteria increasingly display resistance to antimicrobial drugs, this status is being threatened. To safeguard us against a future without antibiotics, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are exploring new treatment strategies. In the department “Chemical Biology” led by Prof. Mark Brönstrup, they are developing a pathoblocker that neutralizes a disease-causing toxin of Staphylococcus aureus without affecting bacterial growth. By disarming the pathogen instead of killing it, this approach could reduce the evolutionary pressure that drives the emergence of antibiotic resistance.