A New Antibiotic Treatment For the MRSA Superbug?
The MRSA superbug has put the fear of infection and death in many people, particularly in relation to getting treatments in medical facilities such as hospitals.
Vancomycin has been mentioned as one of the very few drugs that might treat it, but is this a viable solution? MRSA is a strain of the staph infection bacteria.
The strain first appeared prominently in the 1970s and has come on strong in the last 10.
The key element of these bacteria strains is they are "methicillin-resistant", which means that most of the common antibiotics we use to deal with bacteria no longer work.
For all the fears of bioterrorism spouted by politicians and the media, MRSA is a superbug that is already here and killing.
Currently, it is believed more than 19,000 people a year die from MRSA infections.
The number may be much higher, but unreported due to misdiagnosis by many physicians.
Whatever the exact number, it is expect to grow dramatically in the future.
So, what can we do to treat MRSA if regular antibiotics do not work? Well, the first thing that happens is people are isolated from others to keep the MRSA from spreading.
It is airborne, so spreading is a huge problem.
Regardless, the treatment following isolation is now often the use of the drug Vancomycin.
Vancomycin has proven effective in killing certain strains of the MRSA staph bug, but not all.
So, surely Vancomycin is the drug that will cure this problem, right? Well, no.
First off, it doesn't cure all strains.
Second, Vancomycin has so many side effects that it is considered a drug of last resort, to wit, only given when everything else has failed.
Most "last resort" drugs in medicine are given the designation because they often are just as dangerous to the body as the thing they are treating! Does that sound like a cure to you? Why is Vancomycin a drug of last resort? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
First, it has to be given intravenously, which can be risky since you want to limit invasive procedures when MRSA is present so it does not get into the blood and to the organs.
Second, Vancomuycin can be toxic to the ears and kidneys of the patient.
Throw in other side effects like Red Man syndrome [a rash] and the Center for Disease Control has set specific guidelines limiting the use of Vancomycin.
Perhaps the most damning argument against Vancomycin is even with limited use, MRSA strains are already well along in developing resistances to it.
In short, it doesn't work a lot of the time! Coming up with an effective treatment for MRSA is a vital need.
Unfortunately, Vancomycin does not appear to be that answer.
Vancomycin has been mentioned as one of the very few drugs that might treat it, but is this a viable solution? MRSA is a strain of the staph infection bacteria.
The strain first appeared prominently in the 1970s and has come on strong in the last 10.
The key element of these bacteria strains is they are "methicillin-resistant", which means that most of the common antibiotics we use to deal with bacteria no longer work.
For all the fears of bioterrorism spouted by politicians and the media, MRSA is a superbug that is already here and killing.
Currently, it is believed more than 19,000 people a year die from MRSA infections.
The number may be much higher, but unreported due to misdiagnosis by many physicians.
Whatever the exact number, it is expect to grow dramatically in the future.
So, what can we do to treat MRSA if regular antibiotics do not work? Well, the first thing that happens is people are isolated from others to keep the MRSA from spreading.
It is airborne, so spreading is a huge problem.
Regardless, the treatment following isolation is now often the use of the drug Vancomycin.
Vancomycin has proven effective in killing certain strains of the MRSA staph bug, but not all.
So, surely Vancomycin is the drug that will cure this problem, right? Well, no.
First off, it doesn't cure all strains.
Second, Vancomycin has so many side effects that it is considered a drug of last resort, to wit, only given when everything else has failed.
Most "last resort" drugs in medicine are given the designation because they often are just as dangerous to the body as the thing they are treating! Does that sound like a cure to you? Why is Vancomycin a drug of last resort? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
First, it has to be given intravenously, which can be risky since you want to limit invasive procedures when MRSA is present so it does not get into the blood and to the organs.
Second, Vancomuycin can be toxic to the ears and kidneys of the patient.
Throw in other side effects like Red Man syndrome [a rash] and the Center for Disease Control has set specific guidelines limiting the use of Vancomycin.
Perhaps the most damning argument against Vancomycin is even with limited use, MRSA strains are already well along in developing resistances to it.
In short, it doesn't work a lot of the time! Coming up with an effective treatment for MRSA is a vital need.
Unfortunately, Vancomycin does not appear to be that answer.
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