Antibiotics the usual treatment for bacterial infection, only make things worse by killing the bacteria and releasing more of their toxin, the sole treatment shown to reduce the severity of kidney problems was intravenous fluids. An experimental approach is to feed cows sodium chlorate, a chemical used in the pulp and paper industry. This idea takes advantage of the fact that O157 has an enzyme that allows it to survive without oxygen, which is not true for most desirable bacteria. That enzyme will convert sodium chlorate to sodium chlorite, which poisons the pathogen.