Dealing With MRSA

There has been a lot in the news over the past year about Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (often pronounced “mur-sa”). MRSA is a strain of the Staphylococcus bacteria that has developed a resistance to the major antibiotics used to treat an infection, including methicillin, penicillin and cephalosporins.  The media has begun to refer to MRSA as a ‘superbug’, in recognition of the fact that the bacteria has successfully evolved to thwart human attempts to control it.

Of late, there have been many stories reported about outbreaks of MRSA and deaths related to the infections. (Examples of recent stories can be found here and here via CNN.com and here via Yahoo.) The result of all this coverage, along with the frequent use of words like ‘outbreak’ and ‘superbug’, is a sense of panic and fear about MRSA.  It is important to remember that MRSA has been with us since the early 1960’s, and while it does not respond to standard antibiotics, it is treatable.  Few people die of MRSA, and understanding the disease can help you protect yourself from it without undue fear.

MRSA is spread in one of two ways. Direct skin-to-skin contact is the most frequent means of contagion.  MRSA can also be transmitted on touched objects, but it is important to note that this is exceedingly rare when the skin is whole.  In almost all cases of indirect contraction of the infection, the bacteria came into contact with a wound or opening in the skin.  Keeping all open wounds, sores, and breaks in the skin covered, no matter how small, is important to preventing infections.  Good hygiene is also important, and diligent hand washing and body cleaning will reduce your risks of contracting MRSA.

It is also important to note that the strength of a person’s immune system is an important factor in warding off a Staph infection. People with compromised immune systems are at a much greater risk of contracting the infection and of having a more serious infection.  Maintaining a healthy immune system is absolutely critical as a means of protecting yourself from any number of diseases, including MRSA.  Being sure to get your vitamins is very important, especially Vitamin C.  I have also had very good results using oil of oregano, which supports the body’s immune system and has been shown to be a potent tool against microorganisms.  Studies have indicated that sufficiently pure oil of oregano is able to kill MRSA bacteria.  I recommend Doctor’s Strength Brand Oregacillin and other products that contain North American Herb & Spice P73 Wild Oregano.

Finally, MRSA presents itself as a perfect example of why it is so important to refrain from overusing antibiotics. Too many people reach for antibiotics for every sniffle and cough, hoping to nip the problem in the bud.  But for most everyday illness, antibiotics are useless; they do nothing to fight colds, flus, viral infections or allergic reactions.  Using antibiotics for these purposes will not help you, and only offer naturally-occurring bacteria an opportunity to develop resistances to the antibiotics. An important part of fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria is to keep them from developing, and by using antibiotics only when necessary, you can starve bacteria of their chance to evolve resistances.

Comments

[Dr Kadiyali M Srivatsa]

How Did This Happen?

Over use of antibiotic is not only the reason this bacteria has developed resistance. Initially in 1980s MRSA infections were reported from various pediatric departments in UK hospitals. During this period, HIV was also becoming a major problem and attracted media attention. Staphylococcus was not seen as a major threat by doctors and often dismissed blood culture results as normal commensal (Staphylococcus aureus). Some babies were very ill and so were treated with vancomycin. These babies should have been treated in isolation but the guidelines were not strictly followed.

When working as a junior doctor in pediatric neonatal unit, we initially noticed an increased infection rate was common in babies who were very ill, very preterm when subjected to multiple punctures to introduce cannula or catheters. We tried to organize a study to prove our hypothesis but lacked support.

We decided to do something about it and so designed a cannula which is safe for users and the patients. The aim was to develop a device that could help doctors and nurses to cannulate babies in the first attempt. After testing various concepts, we invented the spring-loaded cannula introducer and now the U-Cannula. The results of our study were published in Anesthesia Analgesia in 1992 and the video recording demonstrating our technique is published in You tube. The cannula manufacturers are not keen to introduce this product due to fear of de-skilling doctors and nurses. They have invested large amount of their R&D funds to bring in safety cannula that only offer safety features to protect staff from needle stick injury and not cater to patient’s safety.

Various hospitals are now training and using nurses as phlebotomy and cannula introducing technicians. Nurses performing this procedure have de-skilled doctors by not giving them the opportunity to introduce cannula. Nursing Association (UK) published paper recommending their member to pass on the responsibility to cannulate to doctors in emergency situation and if the patient is said to be critical or the nurse felt the technique will be difficult.

MRSA infection has increased in tandem with cannula use and we feel repeated opportunity given to this organism to survive in blood has resulted in this situation. Skin preparation and hand washing was not monitored. IV Cannula is often introduced in the lumen of blood vessels in the hand. CDC guidelines recommend this based on catheters and not on evidence from IV cannulae. Now we know the hand is the main area this MRSA lives and cannula as a major risk factor for MRSA.

We are sad and disappointed that the doctors and nurses did not take care to prevent this catastrophe. We hope people who read this will take care to remind the doctors and nurses about hand washing and observe adequate drying time and use sterile gloves (not the ones kept scattered around in boxes in the ward) before they introduce IV cannula. We hope this will reduce introducing infections is some patients.

[Rita]

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[Chloe]

An interesting post indeed, and very "of the moment" as we see so many reports in the news about MRSA contraction. I've heard that manuka honey, cultivated in New Zealand can help ward off viruses including MRSA and that patients looking to enter hospital should dose up - I'm wondering if there's sufficient evidence for it though, as much of it is currently anecdotal?
I've found an article on the subject at the following link, it would be good to know your thoughts.
http://www.foodeu.com/articles/Manuka+Honey+The+Lifesaver.aspx

[body-detox-diet]

MRSA is really scary. how many future strains of bacteria would be resistant to antibiotics in the years to come.

[anne]

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[Laura]

With the oregeno oil (since it is antimicrobial), do you worry about killing off beneficial bacteria in the gut that would be a boost to the immune system? Have you tried using probiotics at all to treat MRSA?

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[Account Deleted]

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[Misty Humphrey]

anti-biotic/anti-bacterials are so over used and abused. Interestingly enough, I have a neighbor who is germ-o-phobic and consequently, when the "bugs hit" her children are the first ones to get ill.
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[Account Deleted]

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