Snip: The syrupy smell that enveloped lower Manhattan for several days in October is back - only this time it moved uptown. Perplexed pedestrians phoned the Fire Department and 311 yesterday afternoon when the sweet yet bewildering odor resurfaced in areas from the Flatiron District to the upper East and West Sides."It seems to be a repeat of what happened in October," said Ian Michaels, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, which is probing the scent.
Old fashioned remedies effective against superbugs
Snip: Researchers are finding that superbugs, which resist the strongest antibiotics in modern medicine's arsenal, sometime succumb to remedies from pre-antibiotic times. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become a major health problem in hospitals and institutions in Europe and North America. Almost impossible to kill, the bacteria cause surgical and neonatal infections in hospitals, spread readily among prisoners and can be found in rugs, air-conditioning ducts, on door handles, floors and TV remote controls. Appearing outside of the hospital environment, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) can also be easily spread by casual contact via open cuts, brush burns and scrapes, and can quickly become difficult-to-treat and potentially deadly infections.
Yet old-fashioned methods for wound cleansing and dressing, ointments and cleaners offer promise as effective additions to standard treatment regimens.
Lettuce linked to Hepatitis A outbreak
Snip: Unwashed produce can transmit hepatitis A, e. coli and salmonella. “All produce - even those that come pre-packaged and labeled as having been washed - should be rinsed in cold running water,” Fielding said.
Hepatitis A is usually spread from person to person through a fecal-oral route. Thoroughly washing hands with soap and hot water after using the bathroom and before handling food can help prevent the spread of the disease.
UN mad over Dutch anti-Muslim cartoon
Snip: In the meantime, the UN has let the world press know that it cannot decide how to define "terrorism." In that case, its committee has postponed its meeting until February when they will meet once again to parse letters in the alphabet in an attempt to decide what is "terrorism." Yet now the UN Human Rights head seems to have a definition. It’s a Dutch cartoon. That’s terrorism.
All the while, Muslim fanatics chop off heads, set neighborhoods ablaze, blast bullets into innocent bodies and set up their 4000 web sites to teach hate and murder. Don’t forget also their schools where adult instructors tell the boys and girls how to despise "Jew-pigs," advocating pushing those in Israel into the Mediterranean Sea. And lest we forget, there are those Allah worshipers who are blowing up their own throughout New Iraq.
My first thought was how does water wash off Hepatitis?
And some more really interesting info from your other story about MRSA.......
Mesosilver, a colloidal silver product, was shown by an independent New York testing laboratory to be effective in reducing the number of MRSA and VRSA bacteria to undetectable levels within 5 to 24 hours, depending on the strength of the solution.
Acticote, a silver-impregnated dressing, was tested in two hospitals in Austria with encouraging results. In an unpublished study, Professor Robert Strohal found that in 95 percent of cases tested, MRSA infection did not occur in wounds treated with the dressing. This dressing is used in the U.K. to treat burn victims.
AcryMed Inc., a Portland, Oregon, company specializing in wound care and infection control technology, released research findings that show silver ointments to be effective in combating MRSA. The founder and CTO of AcryMed, Bruce Gibbins, stated that, "Used in medical dressings or in ointment form, silver can be an extremely useful first defense in stopping MRSA before it develops into a systemic infection."
A fabric that developers claim helps to kill the MRSA superbug is being used in hospitals in Nottinghamshire, England. The fabric, which contains a silver yarn, is used in curtains in the wards in one hospital and in surgeons' gowns and nurses' uniforms in other hospitals. The silver yarn ionizes when it is in the presence of bacteria, killing the bacteria that are on or near the fabric. [maybe all us TM'ers could make clothing out of this. lol]
Essential Oils and Extracts: More than Just Aroma and Taste
Grapefruit seed extract has been used for years as an alternative treatment for a wide variety of skin ailments, such as athlete's foot, mouth ulcers and eczema. Now studies have shown it is also effective against MRSA. However, its action does not kill "friendly" bacteria, as do antibiotics. Its toxicity is low, and it is effective in very low concentrations.
The doctors and nurses at Manchester University, England found a combination of three common oils—eucalyptus, lavender and tea tree—were more effective than conventional antibiotic treatments. The researchers found that the three oils usually used in aromatherapy destroyed MRSA and E. coli bacteria in two minutes flat. They believe that the oils' complex mix of chemical compounds defeat the defenses of the bacteria.
All of that bears checking out. Thanks for posting it MamaD. And another link on there with MRSA info that has a lot of info {I don't have a lot of time this morning to check but saving for later}