Starving bacteria with zinc

In work conducted by the Universities of Adelaide and Queensland, it has been shown that depriving bacteria of the essential mineral manganese is the mechanism by which zinc may prevent serous infectious disease.

It has been revealed that zinc has the unique ability to inhibit a key protein transporter in Streptococcus pneumonia, blocking the bacteria from taking up manganese. Without manganese, the bacteria essentially starve, and can be easily cleared by the immune system. Yet another evidence-based argument for the prescribing of zinc in cases of bacterial infection.