UT Southwestern study identifies a way to prevent burn injury infection—without antibiotics

DALLAS, Dec. 20, 2016— A new way to fight multidrug- resistant bacteria by blinding them rather than killing them proved highly effective in a model of burn injuries, UT Southwestern Medical Center research shows.

“In the United States, there are more than 1 million burn injuries and 100,000 hospitalizations annually. Up to 75 percent of the mortality in burn patients is associated with infections, which are particularly common in patients who suffer extensive burns – those that cover 40 percent or more of the body,” said Dr. Steven Wolf, Section Chief for Burns and Professor of Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Wolf, one of three senior authors of the study published today in Scientific Reports, is also a former Director of the Burn Center at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, Texas.