Antibiotic-resistant hospital pathogens are not to be underestimated as a health risk. A research team has now introduced a new approach for treating multiple-drug resistant Staphylococcus in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. It is based on a synthetic peptide that reduces the virulence of the bacteria by blocking their communication by "quorum sensing." Controlled release of the drug from degradable microparticles very strongly inhibited skin wound infections in an animal model.