Superbug: What makes one bacterium so deadly

Science News ^ | Week of Nov. 17, 2007 | Sarah C. Williams

[neverdem]

Some of the most aggressive antibiotic-resistant staph infections gain their advantage with a molecule that punctures the immune cells trying to fight off the bacteria, scientists have discovered. Understanding the role of this molecule in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) could lead to new therapies for the notoriously hard-to-treat, and sometimes fatal, skin infection.

Staph bacteria are ubiquitous but aren't dangerous unless they seep into an open wound. Even then, antibiotics will usually stop the infection. But some strains of staph that infect hospital patients with weakened immune systems have become resistant to all standard antibiotics, including methicillin.

Now, a newer strain of the flesh-eating disease has swept through schools, day care centers, health club locker rooms, and prisons. So-called community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) typically afflicts healthy people because it's especially effective at causing infections in the first place. For now, it's resistant only to methicillin, but scientists fear that it will become resistant to other antibiotics.

In the Oct. 17 Journal of the American Medical Association, Monina Klevens of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and her colleagues gave the first statistics on just how widespread MRSA has become. The researchers estimated that 94,360 cases occurred in 2005, leading to 18,650 deaths. They argued that these numbers are on the rise, particularly outside the hospital setting.

In a separate study, Michael Otto of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and his colleagues found a molecule involved in CA-MRSA's success.

While studying small molecules that help a different bacterium, Staphylococcus epidermidis, fight its host, the scientists decided to check whether MRSA carried a similar molecule. They found that CA-MRSA had much more of a protein called phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) than the less virulent MRSA strains associated with hospitals had.

"Different bacteria have different strategies to attack the...,"

[pandoraou812]

It says on the bottle of Zotex Lax that it may cause drowsiness & to avoid alcohol. I don’t drink so thats no problem. I’ve never had an antibiotic say that on a bottle before. I take 2 of them per day for 15 days. 2 per day of the Clarithromycin 500 mg for 10 days. I’m done taking the Levaquin 500 mg, I took those for 10 days. Then got hit with the sore throat, earaches & Upper Respiratory Infection which my daughter had.

[neverdem]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_ca.html

Levaquin sounds good. Eating yogurt when you take antibiotics is a good idea, but timing is an issue when you take them with flouroquinolones like Levaquin. Clarithromycin isn’t a problem; it’s a macrolide antibiotic that works differently.

[Joe 6-pack]

Interesting...I had an aunt who was an Army nurse in the South Pacific during WWII. One of the protocols they used for gut-shot GIs was beer in order to help reestablish a proper microbial environment in the gastrointestinal tract.

[neverdem]

http://www.medscape.com/druginfo/dosage?drugid=94406&drugname=Zotex+LAX+Oral&monotype=default&cid=med

Zotex LAX is an expectorant.

[ncpatriot]

My GI doc just told me that probiotics are not necessary for me although he is not against them. I have just completed a course of flagyl, vancomycin and now am finishing "travelers diarrhea antibiotic" (can't remember name) but it kills e coli I believe.

I'm definitely going to take probiotics (psychological thing)

[neverdem]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed

I'm definitely going to take probiotics (psychological thing)

You can look it up. Enter antibiotics and yogurt at PubMed.

[VOA]

bump

[SunkenCiv]

hey, wait a minute, I’ve read about this MRSA hoax before...

The MRSA Scam (snake oil shall protect thee not from zot)
10/18/2007 | Self
Posted on 10/18/2007 2:18:34 PM EDT by EndWelfareToday
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1913137/posts

;’)

[pandoraou812]

Thanks so much for the info. I have been eating yogurt as it is easier to get down. I am just concerned that I am not feeling like me but as my husband pointed out I am SICK. I havn’t even been on FR as much as usual. I think the cough medicine was making me loopy. Back to bed for me & thanks to everyone again. ~Pandy~

[metmom]

bump

[metmom]

Get some help soon. Something’s not right and don’t let the doctor blow you off.

[pandoraou812]

I know. I will be back at the Drs Monday or go to the ER tomorrow. I just don’t feel like I make any sense. Balance is off but the dr told me that was my equilibrium due to my ear aches. There is an awful taste in my mouth & I just keep falling asleep. I had a flu shot weeks ago. I just hate being sick. Have a great night ~Pandy~

[Colorado Buckeye]

You probably already know this, but, just in case, you want to buy yogurt labeled as having “active cultures.” Some commercial products are pasteurized after the milk is fermented into yogurt, thus killing the desired cultures.

[metmom]

Balance is off but the dr told me that was my equilibrium due to my ear aches.

Doctors tend to be no good with non-specific complaints. Too often dizziness is blown off like that, as just a effect of illness.

I try to keep up on stuff, (sometimes that's inflicted on me by my kids; I have to keep up for their sake) but your symptoms make no sense.

But I do know enough to know that if they're that bad and that out of character for you, they certainly need to be taken seriously.

[ErnBatavia]

Eating yogurt when you take antibiotics is a good idea

I hadn't known that until about 10 weeks ago, when my father was having a couple of hospitalizations for pneumonia, and we were advised to get yogurt.

(In the end, he didn't make it and slipped away mid-morning just before Labor Day)

[ncpatriot]

Fascinating

Thanks for the search site.

This in particular was applicable: Although generally safe and well tolerated, both S. boulardii and LGG should be used cautiously in immunocompromised patients

Must discuss with my GI.

[hummingbird]

...I am quite dizzy & not myself at all. I was on levaquin 500 mg for staph for 10 days.... but just am not myself...

Hello, pandoraou812...I think neverdem may be on to something in post 13 and that you may be on to something in your post 18.

Levaquin is a very strong Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic and it may be that you need to continue taking it. However, I was given a Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic for a simple sinus infection. Some of the statements you made sound very much like a Fluoroquinolone reaction I had a few years ago. By day 3 of a fluoroquinolone, I knew something was wrong, called my doctor who said to continue, then got a second opinion asap and the doctor said it was quite common to have the kind of reaction I was having if I was sensitive to fluoroquinolones. As you stated, I was not myself at all. I forgot how to turn on a lamp that had been in my home for years. It was like I had to figure out everything to see how it worked. I would get water from the refrigerator dispenser, it would overfill and I would just watch it overfill for a few seconds before I realized I had to take the glass away and clean up a bunch of water.

This is just my testimonial to how fluoroquinolones worked for me. I looked it up on the computer after my dr.'s appointment and was surprised by the amount of professional and testimonial material on this type of antibiotic. Apparently, it was not the drug for me and my doctor said to be sure to update my drug medication list to include a notation not to take fluoroquinolones.
It was just a simple sinus infection. It was like taking a tank to a elementary school pushing and shoving fight. It was too much of something I am apparently allergic to and "I did not feel like myself."

I hope you are better soon and will pray that you have a quick recovery. But, do check out the fluoroquinolones online and with your doctor. You may not be able to take this medication without some strong side effects.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks...

[pandoraou812]

So very sorry about your father ~P~

[pandoraou812]

Yes, thank you I’ve been buying that kind & when this is over I hope not to eat yogurt for a long time. I slept a very long time last night & today so I feel a bit better.