Zinc may form the basis for a new kind of effective antibiotics, say Australian researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Queensland.
The researchers found that zinc destroys Streptococcus pneumoniae, bacteria causing pneumonia, meningitis and other infectious diseases. In order to penetrate into the body bacteria require manganese. The experiment showed that zinc affects transport protein in bacteria and prevents it from absorbing manganese. As a result, the immune system can easily overcome the pathogen.
Previously, scientists were able to show that supplements with zinc aid recovery of infants with pneumonia or meningitis.