Health Highlights: July 29, 2016

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

New Antibiotic Discovered in the Nose

A new antibiotic has been discovered in people’s noses.

German researchers analyzed germs that inhabit the human body and found that about 30 percent of people had Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in their noses, but 70 percent did not, the Associated Press reported.

Those without S. aureus have another type of bacteria — Staphyloccus lugdunensis — in the nose that produces an antibiotic that keeps S. aureus in check, according to the study published online in the journal Nature.

The scientists isolated this antibiotic, which they call lugdunin, and found that it was effective in treating mice whose skin was infected with S. aureus, the AP reported.

Lugdunin may offer a new way to fight antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria, one of the superbugs that pose a major health threat worldwide. Tests of lugdunin in humans have yet to be conducted.

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