Are we on the verge of a new “plague” that will kill more than AIDS?  That’s what some researchers and health authorities are predicting concerning MRSA — Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.  The media is going wild over this story, which ironically I have been talking about in a general way for many years at my SICK & TIRED SEMINARSM.  So the questions are:  What is MRSA?  How do you get it?  Who is at risk?  What are the treatment options? How can you prevent it?  What role can natural health care play in  prevention and treatment?

  WHAT IS MRSA?

            MRSA (acronym pronounced “mersa”) is a type of staph bacterial infection. A study released October 16, 2007 noted that in 2005 94,360 people developed a serious, invasive MRSA infection resulting in 18,650 deaths during hospitalizations.  In 2007 the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology estimated that 1.2 million hospital patients are in some way infected with MRSA annually in the U.S. and another 423,000 are colonized with it.  One public health expert speculated that MRSA deaths may exceed those of AIDS.

            MRSA was first noted in the United Kingdom in 1961, but is now found around the world.  Various types of staph bacteria are fairly common, being found on the skin or in the nose of 1/3 of the population.  Mere presence of this bacteria is classified only as “colonization,” while the issue is with actual invasive infection, where the organism gets in the blood stream or destroys the skin.  Though this germ has been noted for a number of years in hospitals, known as hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA), a greater concern now is community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), which is proving highly contagious in non-hospital settings.

            MRSA or other staph infections usually begin as pimple—like red bumps that may appear to be boils or spider bites.  Unfortunately they can quickly become deep, painful abscesses necessitating draining.  Although the infection may only affect the skin, in some cases MRSA may invade the bones, joints, surgical wounds, the blood, lungs and heart valves.

HOW DO YOU GET IT?

            Generally speaking, staph bacteria invade the body through some kind of cut or wound, though entrance to the body through the respiratory tract is also of concern due to frequent colonization of MRSA in these areas.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that 85% of all invasive MRSA infections are associated with healthcare, one-third of those occurring during hospitalization.  Risk factors according to the Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com) include:

HA-MRSA (Hospital Acquired)

• Current or Recent Hospitalization —  The greatest exposure to such pathogens is in hospitals, which are full of sick, immune-compromised people.
• Living in a Long-term Care Facility —  MRSA is more common in these facilities than in hospitals.
• Invasive Devices — Dialysis, catheters and feeding tubes lend themselves to easier infection.
• Recent Antibiotic Usage — This is particularly true with fluorquinolones such as ciprofloxacin or with cephalosporin.

CA-MRSA (Community Acquired)

• Children — Due to underdeveloped immune system coupled with prevalence of cuts and other minor wounds, kids are especially at risk
• Contact Sports —  since skin to skin contact that easily spreads the bacteria is coupled with cuts and abrasions that allow it to invade the body.
• Sharing Towels or Athletic Equipment — Razors, towels, uniforms or other athletic items has caused MRSA to spread.
• Weakened Immunity — Any immune system weakness favors MRSA infection.  Those over age 65 are more susceptible in part because of weakened immunity.
• Crowded or Unsanitary Conditions — There have been CA-MRSA outbreaks on military bases as well as prisons.
• Contact with Health Care Workers — Health care workers have perhaps the greatest exposure to MRSA and thus may carry the organism.  Patients, family members, friends, etc. in contact with them are thus at a higher risk.

DIAGNOSIS

            Be aware of skin problems like pimples, insect bites and cuts or abrasions.   Skin infections that are swollen, painful or have draining pus need to be immediately examined by a medical doctor.  If the doctor just wants to put you on antibiotics, insist on having a test for MRSA, which can be detected through a blood test.

CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL TREATMENT

            The main problem with MRSA is that it doesn’t respond to typical antibiotic treatment.  Vancomycin or Teicoplanin are usually the antibiotics used to treat such resistant bacteria, but some hospitals have already had MRSA outbreaks that did not respond to these drugs.  In some cases, doctors are simply draining abscesses rather than  actually treating the infection.

            Believe it or not, maggots have been successfully used to treat MRSA! You know conventional medicine is really desperate when they go back to the leeches and maggots for help.

THE ROOT CAUSE

            Do you want a simple explanation of where this whole problem came from?  It’s about the overuse of antibiotics drugs by conventional medicine.  This is another iatrogenic (doctor-caused) disease.

            For 50+ years Americans have been taking antibiotics for routine bacterial infections.  Millions have also taken them for viral infections for which they are useless (that’s spelled m-a-l-p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e) because a lot of doctors think they have to give you something for your complaint, even if it doesn’t work.  In recent years the Centers for Disease Control have had a major campaign against this over-prescribing of antibiotics.  Their ad campaign, featuring a child with a cold says, “Snort, Sniffle, Sneeze — No Antibiotics Please!”  The Mayo Clinic website labels “unnecessary antibiotic use in humans” as the leading cause of antibiotic resistant organisms like MRSA:

Like other superbugs, MRSA is the result of decades of excessive and unnecessary antibiotic use.  For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu and other viral infections that don’t respond to these drugs, as well as for simple bacterial infections that normally clear on their own.

            Here’s the problem:  Let’s say you take an antibiotic for an ear infection or sinus infection.  Do you suppose that drug kills 100% of the bacteria in your body?  No.  But which bacteria survive the antibiotic?  The really strong and hardy ones that live to reproduce.  Taking antibiotics for routine infections is practicing a selective breeding program to make stronger and stronger bacteria.  The fittest do survive and adapt by genetic mutation to be resistant to that antibiotic drug.  Thus, a lot of antibiotics just no longer work.  But we really see the deadly seriousness of the problem when a superbug like MRSA comes along where few if any antibiotics have any effect.

            But what if you seldom if ever have taken antibiotics?  You still have a problem.  Again, the Mayo Clinic notes:

Prescription drugs aren’t the only source of antibiotics.  In the United States, antibiotics can be found in beef cattle, pigs and chicken.  The same antibiotics then find their way into municipal water systems when the runoff from feedlots contaminates streams and groundwater . . . Antibiotics given in the proper doses to animals who are sick don’t appear to produce resistant bacteria.

PREVENTING MRSA

            Prevention is always the best course of action — especially with a disease for which there may be no cure.  Before I talk about specifics, let me share a little optimism.  Not everyone exposed to MRSA gets an invasive infection.  And certainly not everyone who actually gets the infection, dies.  Ultimately this is about one question:  How strong is your immune system?

            We are exposed every second to all kinds of germs, yet most of the time we don’t get sick because our immune system deals with it.   Like every other infectious disease, MRSA is primarily effecting those with the weakest immune systems — the elderly, children, and those in the hospital.  If you aggressively build your immune system, you don’t need to cower in fear of this disease.  But you do need to take action.  Here are some steps:

1. Avoid Antibiotics— I’ve only taken an antibiotic medication once in last 35 years (and I got conned into it that time). If you aren’t constantly taking antibiotics for every little infection, there is a much greater probability of antibiotics actually working if you need them someday for a serious, life-threatening infection like MRSA.  Likewise, whenever possible eat organically raised meat that does not have antibiotic drug residues.
2. Don’t Eat Pig— For over 30 years I’ve been telling people to follow the Old Testament Dietary Law (see Better Health Update #29) and not eat pig, shellfish or other foods God said were inedible. In addition to all the other scientific research to this point, the Netherlands has found major MRSA infections at pig farms and noted pig to human transfer through the meat.
3. Take Probiotics— Antibiotics, whether from drugs you take or drugs you ingest from foods you eat, destroy the beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract. Those beneficial acidophilus, bifidus and other bacteria are essential to maintaining good immunity.
4. Don’t Eat Sugar— Nothing will destroy your immunity faster than eating refined sugar. Many years ago the late Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., experimented with the effect of white sugar on immunity.  After observing how many germs white blood cells would destroy in the blood samples of volunteers, he had them swallow 1 teaspoon of sugar, after which the white blood cells could only destroy half as many germs.
5. Practice Good Sanitation— Wash your hands regularly. Unlike conventional medicine, I do not recommend using anti-bacterial soaps, which I believe exacerbate the problem of the overuse of antibiotics.  Hot water and regular soap work fine.  If you are in the hospital, or whenever you see a doctor, insist they wash their hands before examining you.  Don’t share towels, sheets, razors, clothing or athletic equipment.
6. Keep Wounds Bandaged— Cuts and other abrasions should be kept clean and covered with sterile bandages until they heal.
7. Vitamin C— Vitamin C is pretty basic to maintaining immunity and fighting infection. I would take at least 2,000—3,000 mg per day of a buffered ascorbate-type C for maintenance and two to three times that amount when you’re actually sick.
8. Anti-Infection Herbs— Echinacea, Golden Seal and Olive Leaf Extract are among the herbs with infection fighting properties. Based on individual testing, as we do at PHC, one of these may be appropriate for prevention or to deal with an actual infection.
9. Homeopathic Remedies— Likewise, there are various homeopathic remedies for infections, including bacterial nosodes (homeopathic dilutions of disease organisms) which stimulate immune reaction.
10. Colloidal Silver— Colloidal silver was used effectively for many years before the discovery of antibiotics in treatment of a wide range of infections. It’s very effective and the germs aren’t resistant to it.
11. Ozone Air Purification— Ozone is proven effective as a sanitizer on sports equipment. I have long recommended ozone air purification in your home.  See Better Health Update #14 for details.

Better Health Update is published by Pacific Health Center, PO Box 1066, Sisters, Oregon 97759, Phone (800) 255–4246 with branch clinics in Boise, Idaho, Post Falls, Idaho and Portland, Oregon.  E-Mail:  drkline@pacifichealthcenter.com.   Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist, Author.  Reproduction Prohibited.

DISCLAIMER:  The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only.  It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment.  Rather, this material  is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems.  Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.