streptococcus pneumoniae

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis in children has given rise to Streptococcus pneumoniae that is resistant to levofloxacin (Levaquin), researchers here said.

Research led by the University of Warwick has uncovered exactly how the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae has become resistant to the antibiotic penicillin.

The same research could also open up MRSA to attack by penicillin and help create a library of designer antibiotics to use against a range of other dangerous bacteria.