A drug called ebselen could help stop the spread of Clostridium difficile infections even though it's not an antibiotic, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine and covered by HealthDay.
Researchers studied ebselen in mice and found that it can stop the toxic activity of C. diff without affecting the other, good bacteria in the gut.
"We find that oral dosing of mice infected with C. difficile resulted in nearly complete blockage of the damage to gut tissues that cause the symptoms in humans," senior author of the study Matthew Bogyo, PhD, told HealthDay.
Further study will be needed to see if the drug does the same thing in humans.