Beta-lactam antibiotics are doing more harm than good in MRSA infections.
With 80000 infections per year and over 11000 casualties, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria seems to put a lot of strain on both researchers and physicians. And according to a new study, antibiotics increase the potency of MRSA bug instead of treating it effectively.
Broadly known as the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, this strain of bacteria produces a handful of infections that are very hard to diagnose and treat. The disease is also called oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The MRSA strain in capable of forming intracellular barriers thus building up resistance to a wide variety of antibiotics. Through clinical observation, doctors have learned that the bacteria is becoming even more resistant to antibiotics such as the beta-lactam antibiotic.
Although there are a lot of rumors flying about, saying that the MRSA was artificially created, researchers come to refute this fallacious argument. The bacteria is, in fact, a natural occurrence and it has developed through natural selection.
Statistics show that the risk of a MRSA outbreak in higher in hospitals, nursing home and prison. MRSA is widely associated with patients that underwent invasive surgical procedures or have open wounds. Basically, patients that have a weak or weakened immune response are at high risk to developing this strain than others.
Let’s talk symptoms, but first, we have to make distinction between two different opinions about the MRSA bacteria. According to the literature on the matter, MRSA comes in two varieties: there is the so-called HA-MRSA (MRSA you can get in the hospital) and CA-MRSA (the one you get from your community). Now, regarding the symptomatology associated with MRSA. Usually, the staph begins the siege, by taking refuge in your nostrils. From there, it can migrate to other parts of your body via the bloodstream. In other cases, physicians observed that the bacteria could also colonize the respiratory tract and the urinary tract.
The first symptom, developed in a period between 24 and 72 hours, is a sort of rash on your skin, which closely resembles a spider or a mosquito bite. Other symptoms may include high fever. As the infections gets worse, patients start to exhibit more severe symptoms like impetigo, boils, cellulitis, necrotizing pneumonia and endocarditis. Left unattended, the bacteria could lead to sepsis and toxic shock syndrome.
Typically, in order to treat this strain of bacteria, doctors employ a combination of antibiotics. Beta-lactam antibiotics are very efficient in isolating and eliminating the protein that the bacteria produces in order to develop cellular barrier.
But, according to a study conducted by Doctor George Liu, from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in LA, the antibiotics seem to be rather inefficient in trigger an immune response to the infection. Lab tests conducted of MRS-infected mice revealed that the drug combo is strengthening the bacteria, not killing it.
And, according to the same doctor, patients diagnosed with this disease often receive the wrong antibiotics.
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