my landlord has MRSA

I remember I first read about it maybe 10 years ago.

Now I know 2 people who have it.

Scary.

Especially since the "powers-that-be" don't seem particulary concerned about this, and other, newer antibiotic-resistant organisms.

I had that bad boy, in hospital of course!
Nearly finished me off and they said I was lucky I didn't catch VRSA, which is resistant to the antibiotic which deals to MRSA. No drugs for that one. Big Pharma aren't putting money into new antibiotics: it's not worth the enormous expense as the bacteria are mutating so fast.
There's lots of scientists warning that antibiotics will pretty shortly be an historical artifact.
Bacteria will inherit the earth

My very aware, conscious, and healthy oldest daughter had it this past summer. Has no idea how she picked it up. She developed a sore on her butt that would not heal. Went to the doc and was treated. The sore was quickly healing before the lab results came back. Fortunately for my daughter the doc suspected MRSA and treated accordingly. Very worrisome for all of us. She is completely healed now. Dreadful bug.

Leila Rich wrote:
I had that bad boy, in hospital of course!
Nearly finished me off and they said I was lucky I didn't catch VRSA, which is resistant to the antibiotic which deals to MRSA. No drugs for that one. Big Pharma aren't putting money into new antibiotics: it's not worth the enormous expense as the bacteria are mutating so fast.
There's lots of scientists warning that antibiotics will pretty shortly be an historical artifact.
Bacteria will inherit the earth

yes the earth will one day be inhabited solely by bacteria, cockroaches and bindweed.   

i dunno, rats might survive too...

Some information on manuka honey and mrsa:

“Honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin – effectively reversing antibiotic resistance. This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey.”

The researchers point out that honey is a complex and variable product, so searching for “specific inhibitors” (the molecular compounds that might have an effect on bacteria) has not been easy. They think that several factors may together be implicated in its antimicrobial activity, including its high sugar content, low water content, low acidity, the presence of hydrogen peroxide and the presence of phytochemicals.

Manuka honey is thought to be particularly potent because it has high levels of a compound called dihydroxyacetone, which is present in the nectar of manuka flowers. This chemical produces methylglyoxal, a compound thought to have antibacterial and cell-killing properties.

Overall, the researchers found that manuka honey affected the structure and activity of different bacteria.
In the study of MRSA, the bacteria were susceptible to “relatively low” concentrations of manuka honey. Combining honey with the antibiotic oxacillin (and to a small extent vancomycin) altered the structure of these drugs, making them potentially more effective. This was measured as the minimum inhibitory concentration or minimum bactericidal concentrations, which are each a measure of the concentration of drug needed to slow growth or kill the organisms.

In the study of Pseudomonas bacteria, the honey induced “significant changes” in the bacteria’s protein expression, which is likely to be detrimental to its survival.
In the study of Streptococcus pyogenes, honey inhibited the growth of bacterial biofilms.


http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/04April/...-bacteria.aspx