There is evidence that MRSA has gone airborne, now referred to as A:MRSA, although the US seems to be behind in its assessment of this problem. In Japan, a study was done on three patients in separate rooms who came down with MRSA after surgery and all three were found to have the same strain of MRSA possible only through air transmission. The study in Japan is one of many coming to the same conclusion.
How does this happen??? Likely it is through the shedding of human skin. These skin particle get into the air and are breathed in by anyone in the same atmosphere as the patient. Several countries are investigating the use of air filters to stem this new form of transmission but very few hospitals at this time have any kind of air purification.
I first read about this possibility several months ago when I was offline. I hoped that researching this now would prove the rumor to be false as this is one of the most frightening thing I can think of to happen to MRSA transmission.
NO ONE is “safe”. This is everyone’s problem.

While the United States is thinking about maybe some day getting around to considering the possibility that they might have to scuffle with MRSA, I am seeing other countries going to war equipped with publicity, funding, flooring that kills MRSA and even fabric for nightclothes that kills the MRSA microbe! We will send thousands of our young men and money to fight other countries wars while not even thinking about fighting the war here against a disease that is killing us faster than anyone else. Our president is firm that we won’t allow terrorists to live yet this terrorist is striking daily and we just sit here and pretend there is nothing to fight and no way to fight it. Don’t get me wrong. I love my country, I really do. I just hate to see it come in last in any race. And military men are one of the specific targets of MRSA!! What is wrong with this picture??

We have known for a while that pigs carry MRSA, and a few months ago a University of Iowa study found a “virulent” strain of MRSA in pigs there, but no one from our USDA is yet testing pork for MRSA.
A group called “The Problem Solvers”, along with a network of stations in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California did their own testing purchasing 97 packages of pork cutlets and ground pork. The samples were sent to IEH Laboratories, a USDA-certified lab in Seatle. They found MRSA in three samples of ground pork, from three of the four states tested.
I have already heard people downplaying this by stating the obvious, that by cooking pork thoroughly the MRSA bacterium will die. The problem they aren’t seeing is that those who handle pork can pick up the virus and either become infected themselves through a cut or any opening in their skin, or transfer it to anything they touch after handling the pork.
The National Pork Board has begun some testing in retail markets and are finding the about the same results as The Problem Solvers in that about three percent of their tests are positive.
Although Canada and several European countries already test pork in grocery stores for MRSA the USDA has no plans for testing.
So we must look out for ourselves and just assume that our pork is carrying MRSA and use precautions when handling the raw product. Ideally, rubber gloves should be worn when handling raw pork, but at least make sure you have no cuts or scrapes on your hands and touch nothing but some good soap and warm water after touching raw pork! And of course, cook it thoroughly, not only to protect yourself from MRSA, but also from the still present threat of Tricinosis.

I don’t know abut this one folks, but I read a little while back that there is a study being done in Britain and Italy suggesting that THC might be valuable in the fight against MRSA. THC, found in Marijuana, shows promise as an antibacterial agent against bacterium that are resistant to broad spectrum antibiotics. This does not mean that smoking marijuana will inoculate you! THC compounds are being researched for use as a topical treatment.
Sorry, potheads.

We have known for a while that pigs carry MRSA, and a few months ago a University of Iowa study found a “virulent” strain of MRSA in pigs there, but no one from our USDA is yet testing pork for MRSA.
A group called “The Problem Solvers”, along with a network of stations in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California did their own testing purchasing 97 packages of pork cutlets and ground pork. The samples were sent to IEH Laboratories, a USDA-certified lab in Seatle. They found MRSA in three samples of ground pork, from three of the four states tested.
I have already heard people downplaying this by stating the obvious, that by cooking pork thoroughly the MRSA bacterium will die. The problem they aren’t seeing is that those who handle pork can pick up the virus and either become infected themselves through a cut or any opening in their skin, or transfer it to anything they touch after handling the pork.
The National Pork Board has begun some testing in retail markets and are finding the about the same results as The Problem Solvers in that about three percent of their tests are positive.
Although Canada and several European countries already test pork in grocery stores for MRSA the USDA has no plans for testing.
So we must look out for ourselves and just assume that our pork is carrying MRSA and use precautions when handling the raw product. Ideally, rubber gloves should be worn when handling raw pork, but at least make sure you have no cuts or scrapes on your hands and touch nothing but some good soap and warm water after touching raw pork! And of course, cook it thoroughly, not only to protect yourself from MRSA, but also from the still present threat of Tricinosis.

I’ve been watching the country go through the big MRSA “Gay Disease” scare like it did over HIV but at least this one seems to be taming down a little quicker and I’m even reading apologies by newspeople who started the scare. Yes, it is effecting the gay community, but it is far from being any kind of “gay” disease!! I even heard one local news report the other day describing MRSA as only being found in the gay community!!
MRSA is not selective and it is not some message from God that gays should suffer. Many, many people from all walks of life are suffering and it will continue to worsen. I am disappointed to hear so little about Phage Therapy being used for the treatment of MRSA boils but there is always hope for the future. I do see a lot about Phages being used for different things like they are being applied to luncheon meats to prevent dangerous growth of bacteria so hopefully the medical world will someday recognize their benefits to fight disease.

A new product for treating MRSA skin infections is going to be hitting the market in 2008. It is a line of products containing Manuka Honey brought to us by Honeymark International. Manuka Honey seems to be successful in destroying bacteria because of its ability to draw water out of the bacteria by osmosis. Bacteria requires water to survive. Manuka Honey has also been known to provide a protective barrier around wounds, therefore preventing infection.Manuka Honey is a special type of honey that has been found to have incredible healing qualities, primarily due to hydrogen peroxide and an antibacterial property called the Unique Manuka Factor or UMF. The best part is that Manuka Honey has been found to have no negative side effects.

A team from the John Innes Centre, that specialises in plant and microbial science, said they had proven that by taking a short stretch of DNA from a bacterium and delivering it with an existing antibiotic they could switch off drug resistance.
“The DNA sequence acts as a decoy, disrupting gene expression and blocking resistance,” Michael McArthur of the Norwich-based institute said. “We are putting genetic information directly into drugs.”
Commercially, the new approach could be attractive to drug manufacturers, since it may allow existing antibiotics to be patented as a new medicine when they are combined with a decoy. New science has a much better chance of becoming main stream if the pharmaceutical companies can make money off of it!!!!!

C Diff is moving quickly along the same path as MRSA. Dr. Bruce Hirsch, a specialist in infectious diseases at North Shore, said C. diff is an ancient bacterium. “C. diff can live in us without causing disease,” Hirsch explained, saying many people carry it naturally. “So having C. diff in us does not mean we have an infection. It is common in us just after we’re born.
“What we don’t have is the receptor for the toxin,” he said of the molecular key that unlocks C. diff’s toxin-spewing capacity. Newer, mutant C. diff is fully equipped with the receptor and is capable of boosting the amount of toxin produced. It is the toxin that makes C. diff lethal, causing potentially fatal intestinal inflammation.
C Diff and MRSA appear to be the tip of the iceberg of diseases that are going to emerge as Super bugs if not kept in check. And there is a new bad twist to C Diff. Although it is a bacteria found in the intestines naturally, this virulent strain has another nasty feature.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, commonly used in hospitals, can kill MRSA and other bacteria that contaminate the hands of health care workers, but are powerless against C. diff’s spores. Surfaces touched by C. diff patients must be cleaned frequently with bleach.
So be prepared for this war with microbes that is slated to do more damage than the war in Iraq has so far and could be the biggest killer we have faced.

I have found a simple explanation of what phage therapy is and how it works.
The phage virus attaches itself to the surface of the bacteria cell. It injects its DNA into the cell itself. The virus is alive, and this is how it reproduces. Within a just few minutes, the DNA becomes a phage factory, hijacking the bacteria’s own reproductive mechanism and turning out new copies of the virus, until they explode through the cell wall, killing the bacteria (such as MRSA) and releasing phages that rampage in search of other identical cells, and only those cells, until all the bacteria are gone.
Western medicine hasn’t paid much attention to phage therapy since the discovery of antibiotics but more and more interest is being generated about phage therapy as we begin to do battle with the superbugs that antibiotics have created.
Phage therapy is truly the way of the future if only the pharmaceutical companies will allow it into mainstream medicine but they will resist its induction because they cannot make the money marketing viruses that they do making the thousands of antibiotics that have created MRSA and other superbugs. Public education and demand will be what forces phage therapy back into western mainstream medicine.