MRSA Bacteria

MRSA bacteria can be killed by combo of three antibiotics

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A combination of three drugs, that when used alone are not effective against antibiotic-resistant staph infections, can kill the deadly pathogens when used in combination, according to new research.

 Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have successfully killed a deadly bug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in test tubes and laboratory mice using a trio of antibiotics, according to Science News Online.

They believe the combination of antibiotics will be successful when used in humans. Gautam Dantas, PhD, an associate professor of pathology and immunology, and the principal investigator in the study, said, “Using the drug combination to treat people has the potential to begin quickly because all three antibiotics are approved by the FDA.”

The three antibiotics in question — meropenem, piperacillin and tazobactam — are members of a broad class of drugs called beta-lactams that have proven to not be effective against MRSA when used alone.

Dantas’ team worked with scientists in the microbiology laboratory at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, testing and genetically analysing 73 different variants of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, including hospital-acquired and community-acquired forms of the pathogen.

The research had an exciting outcome. When the different variants of the MRSA bacteria were treated with a trio of the three drugs in test tubes, the antibiotics killed the bacteria every time. The next step was to test the combination of drugs in mice.

Dantas’ team then worked with researchers at the University of Notre Dame conducting experiments using mice infected with the different variants of the MRSA bacteria. The team found that the trio of antibiotics used to cure the mice was as effective as the strongest drug on the market.

“Without treatment, these MRSA-infected mice tend to live less than a day, but the three-drug combination cured the mice,” Dantas said. “After the treatment, the mice were thriving.” Dantas explained that the drugs attack the cell walls of the bacteria, and by working in a synergistic manner, they are more effective.

An important finding in the study was that the trio of drugs did not produce resistance in MRSA bacteria. The development of antibiotic-resistance has been a huge problem as more and more pathogens develop resistance to drugs that have in the past, been effective in treating infections.

“We started with MRSA because it’s such a difficult bug to treat,” Dantas said. “But we are optimistic the same type of approach may work against other deadly pathogens, such as Pseudomonas and certain virulent forms of E. coli.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/new-study-trio-of-antibiotics-can-kill-deadly-staph-bacteria/article/443877#ixzz3ly2cxli5

MRSA Bacteria From Borrowed Makeup Brush Paralyzes 27-Year-Old Woman

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You’ve probably borrowed your best friend’s hair brush, or shared their drinks and clothes. But one woman who borrowed her best friend’s makeup brush didn’t realize that it would have such devastating consequences for her.

wheelchair

Jo Gilchrist, a young mother of a 2-year-old son, was paralyzed completely after developing a staph infection that attacked her spine. She believes it was passed along through the brush and the microbes might have entered her system through a pimple on her face.

Typically, about a third of healthy people have harmless staphylococcus bacteria living on their skin. But a very small proportion of people (about two percent) carry an antibiotic-resistant version. It’s possible that since Gilchrist’s friend had previously had a staph infection on her face, it had been transferred to Gilchrist through the makeup brush and her own immune system wasn’t able to fight it off. The particular strain of staph that attacked her spine was MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

“The only thing we can put it down to is the makeup brush,” Gilchrist, 27, told The Daily Mail Australia. “My friend did have a staph infection on her face and I was using her brush just before. I had no idea that could even happen, I used to share with my friends all the time.”

Gilchrist initially felt a “little ache” that quickly turned into back and full body pain that was “worse than childbirth.” She noted, “I literally thought I was going to die.” Soon, the feeling in her legs began to go numb and she knew something was terribly wrong.

After being airlifted to the hospital, doctors began trying to figure out what was causing the numbness and paralysis. They placed her in an induced coma and started emergency surgery. The staph infection, however, had already destroyed her spine and left her unable to walk, as well as unable to control her bowel or bladder function.

Gilchrist, despite this devastating setback, remains positive about her life and believes that with the proper attitude to not give up, she will walk again someday. She’s been in intensive treatment and therapy, and with the help of physical therapy she’s been able to slowly move her legs and stand. In a new video she uploaded to her Facebook, Gilchrist shows herself fighting the paralysis by moving around and standing.

“I’m fighting this with all I’ve got and I’m starting to learn to walk again,” she told the Daily Mail. “Two weeks ago they said I might be able to walk for an hour or two a day — like grocery shopping, washing up, and hanging the washing out. I’m happy with that. I honestly didn’t even expect that.”