一种从医院进化的细菌

一种新的喜碳水化合物超级细菌已经“准备好”瞄准医院的食物

An estimated half a million Americans contract the pathogen Clostridioides difficile every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Symptoms include diarrhea, bellyache and fever, which can be especially grave for the weakest among us.

据美国疾病控制中心估计，每年有50万美国人感染艰难梭状芽孢杆菌。症状包括腹泻、腹痛和发烧，这对我们当中的虚弱人群来说尤其严重。

Unfortunately for those with compromised immune systems, Clostridioides difficile, also called C. diff, is mutating — and seems to be targeting hospitals, a new study finds.

一项新的研究发现，艰难梭状芽胞杆菌(又称C. diff)正在发生变异，而且似乎正瞄准医院，这对那些免疫系统受损的人来说是不幸的。

“[C. difficile is] primed to take advantage of modern healthcare practices and human diets,” says study co-author Dr. Nitin Kumar, a senior bioinformatician at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in a statement.

“艰难梭菌已经准备好利用现代医疗实践和人类饮食。”研究合著者、Wellcome Sanger研究所的高级生物信息学家Nitin Kumar博士在一份声明中说。

Kumar’s team analyzed the DNA of 906 different strains of C. diff and found that about 70% of the strain collected specifically from hospital patients shared many notable characteristics.

库马尔的研究小组分析了906种不同的差异梭菌的DNA，发现从医院病人身上采集的约70%的差异梭菌，具有许多显著的特征。

Researchers are calling this particular group C. difficile clade A, and it is “currently forming a new species,” claims Kumar. He notes that more than 95% of DNA within a species must be identical and that this class of C. diff is right on the cusp — sharing 94 to 95% of their genome.

库马尔说，研究人员称这一特殊群体为艰难梭菌A，它“目前正在形成一个新物种”。他注意到，一个物种中95%以上的DNA必须是相同的，而这类差异C.diff恰好处于顶端，它们的基因组中94%到95%是共享的。

The burgeoning microbe is an affront to hospital sterility: C. difficile clade A is resistant to antibiotics and disinfectants, and craves sweets and carbs. The pudding cups and instant mashed potatoes that define hospital dining are prime targets for these strains.

这种迅速生长的微生物是对医院无菌性的公然挑衅：艰难梭菌A对抗生素和消毒剂有抵抗力，渴望甜食和碳水化合物。而布丁杯和速溶土豆泥是这些菌株的主要目标。

That many within a clinic’s walls are defenseless to looming illness, demonstrated by recent estimates that one in five C. diff patients will be readmitted to the hospital, makes this development all the more alarming.

最近的一项估计显示，五分之一的C. diff患者将再次入院，这表明，诊所围墙内的许多人对即将到来的疾病毫无抵抗力，这使得这种发展更加令人担忧。

The strains within the clade A category came to be some 76,000 years ago, but study findings show that they really began to thrive during the 17th century — a time when modern medical concepts began to take hold. (For example, the grandfather of microbiology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, first observed bacteria under a microscope in 1676.)

A类分支中的菌株大约在76000年前出现，但研究结果表明，它们真正开始繁荣是在17世纪——当时现代医学概念开始占据主导地位。(例如，微生物学之父安东尼·范·列文虎克(Antonie van Leeuwenhoek)于1676年首次在显微镜下观察到细菌。)

“Our study provides genome and laboratory-based evidence that human lifestyles can drive bacteria to form new species so they can spread more effectively,” concludes Trevor Lawley, a senior author with the Wellcome Sanger study. “We show that strains of C. difficile bacteria have continued to evolve in response to modern diets and healthcare systems and reveal that focusing on diet [which hospitals are already beginning to do] and looking for new disinfectants could help in the fight against this bacteria.”

“我们的研究提供了基因组和基于实验室的证据，证明人类的生活方式可以促使细菌形成新的物种，从而更有效地传播，”威康桑格研究的资深作者特雷弗·劳利总结道。“我们发现艰难梭菌的菌株随着现代饮食和医疗保健系统的发展而不断进化，并提醒相关负责主体确切的关注饮食(医院已经开始这样做了)和寻找新的消毒剂，将有助于对抗这种细菌。”