Superbugs like MRSA come from the over-usage and misuse of antibiotics. The staph bacterium is now more resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics that are usually used to treat staph infections. A few of the newer ones can be effective against certain strains, but some of them are only available intravenously and also are becoming weaker against the bacteria. So now your asking, what can you do to protect yourself?

To help reduce your chances of getting MRSA:

1. Wash your hands.
Make sure you use soap and scrub each hand at-least 15-20 seconds, and if using a public bathroom turn off faucet with a paper towel. It might become handy to carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with a mid to high alcohol content when no soap and water is around.

2. MRSA is very contagious!
The bacteria is very virulent and unrelenting! Don’t share clothes or towels, combs, brushes, pens. Basically do not share anything personal or that is going to come in direct contact with your body.

3. Keep your injuries covered and sterile!
All it takes is a brush against someones infection or something that was handled by the infected person to spread it, and wounds/cuts will give it a easier time getting into the bloodstream.

4. Shower after being in contact with people.
It does not matter if your in the club/mall/sports you will be in contact with people and things people touch regularly, so keep yourself clean!

5. Wash everything if possible in very hot water!
Some washers and dryers get very hot and some don’t, wash and dry on hottest setting possible with bleach.
I have also read that drying your clothes in the sun for more than 10 minutes will kill the bacteria.

6. Get tested!
Many people don’t realize MRSA commonly colonizes in the nostrils and can cause life threatening pneumonias, necrotized skin and wound infections, and targets children, the elderly, people with weak immune systems, and pets!!

If you or someone you know already has MRSA:

1. Wash hands very often!
Especially after ANY contact with sores, bandages or dressings.

2. Keep all infected areas drained of  pus and covered with a sterile dry bandage.
A little bit of fluid or residue from these areas will spread the infection!!

3. Wash everything separately!
This is very important, wash everything separately. Don’t mix clothes or linens before wash and make sure you use the hottest settings on washer and dryer possible, along with bleach.

4. Clean the infected persons room and possessions often.
You want to make sure everything is disinfected. You can use a phenol containing commercial disinfectant (Lysol/Pinesol can be used) or make your own out of 1 part bleach to 100 parts water, which is 1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 quart of water.

5. Infected person should have designated areas.
I’m not saying quarantine, but a designated spot for things like sitting and eating. Would be good to keep the area covered with a hard easily cleaned surface, like plastic or other similar covering. Nobody should sit or use this area until the wounds are healed, and the area should be disinfected after every use.

6. Wear gloves when dealing with sores/wounds.
Getting the bacteria on your hands can cause others to become infected a lot easier.

7.  Very Carefully dispose of bandages and dressings!
Use plastic bags and make sure it is closed securely.

All this may sound scary, but there is hope for people who contract MRSA and cannot be prescribed adequate medicine. Nature has given us many cures for diseases/illnesses and this is no different. I have read studies showing that Elecampane Root will kill the infection on contact. The good thing is its very versatile in the treatment, you can put tincture under the tongue or make tea. You can even get it in easy to take pill form.

Another is Manuka Honey, there seems to be a combination of chemicals produced from the Manuka Bush that give the honey the extra boost in its antibacterial properties! It also gives it a slightly bitter taste! But be careful because unsterilized honey can cause the infection to get worse if it comes in contact with it, Manuka or not!

Then there is the good ol’ Colloidal Silver! If you haven’t read up on it you should, its said to clean up a lot of illness. But there is a nasty side effect if you take too much, it will turn you blue forever! Its called Argyria and it occurs over time from excess silver in the body, it is untreatable.

Lastly we come across something called Allicin, its found in garlic. But it degrades very quickly, especially during the processing most commercial garlic goes through so make sure the label says it contains Allicin! This is a very potent MRSA killer, in fact its been clinically proven to kill MRSA!! The only problem is that garlic in this form is very potent, and if used irresponsibly can cause rashes and other illness.

There is a type of honey produced primarily in Australia and New Zealand that is dark, slightly bitter, and chocked full of MRSA killing awesomeness. Its made when honeybees consume the nectar of the beautifully flowering Manuka Bush. But the flipside of it is researchers don’t know what Manuka component(s) is exactly responsible for the MRSA killings. The only thing they know is that the component or components are only found when bees make honey using the nectar of the Manuka bush and that it has antibacterial properties.

In an experiment done at University of Wales Institute, Cardiff MRSA was grown in a lab, one with Manuka honey and one without for four hours. But sugar alone is known to kill bacteria by not allowing the bacteria to suck up water. So to check the validity of the findings they grew two more batches with and without sugar syrup, just to rule out the other parts of the honey in question.

The findings indicated the MRSA group with the Manuka honey was lacking a protein necessary for synthesizing fatty acids, which is used to build cell walls and the internal “organs” of the bacteria. Which would hinder the cells life-cycle tremendously since it would be unable to sustain form or in most cases reproduce, causing it to wither away and die!!! These findings were unlike the reaction of the sugar syrup group.

But all this does not mean go find some Manuka honey and spread it all over your infection!!! As store-bought honey will not be sterilized like medical-grade honey, which means it can make the infection worse!

For about 20 years the cure for MRSA has been known, the discovery was made by Dr. Robert O. Becker. During his stay at Syracuse Medical University back in the 1980′s he was doing groundbreaking research on electronically generated silver ions that led to the discovery of the cure which is tiny particles of mineral silver usually suspended in liquid or cream, known as colloidal silver and it is completely natural.

But because the cure was natural the FDA helped downplay the findings. One way this happened was in 1999 the FDA passed a ruling saying colloidal silver is not a effective infection fighting substance and it would be misbranded if advertised for such uses. Which seems counterproductive since colloidal silver has a ~90 year (since the 1920′s) medical history showing its effectiveness against most if not all infectious illnesses and diseases.

But thankfully there are some brand-new studies with fascinating information about colloidal silver proving that it is a win-win in the medical field, especially for MRSA. Which is good because the infection is causing more deaths than AIDS yearly. I will write about the studies in later posts.

But to make things even worse than they are now the EPA has entered the picture and is now claiming the right to regulate silver products including colloidal silver as pesticides. The claim is if colloidal silver gets into the nation’s waterways and ecosystems that it might wipe out ecologically sensitive microorganisms that the environment depends on to sustain itself. Basically this means any colloidal silver manufacturers will need to register silver products with the EPA, which means millions of dollars of experiments and testing, lab equipment, and lots of time.

One thing I’ve found that completely squashes that argument actually is proven by simple high school science, which is when the tiny electrically charged micro-particles reenter the environment they will very rapidly bond with other substances such as minerals And salts. This process is called agglomeration and the effect neutralizes silvers toxicity to microbes and essentially it will return over to its natural state.

At any rate I’m very happy to have found a sure cure for MRSA for other people to benefit from. But one thing that keeps me wondering is why colloidal silver was downplayed for 20 years but when “new” compelling evidence came out it was deemed so potent that it is a danger to the environment and needs to be regulated.

Such herbs as garlic have been reliable healers over the ages, and that is not about to stop here. Garlic happens to have a very potent natural antimicrobial substance called “Allicin” which has been clinically proven to kill MRSA. The only problem is most processed garlic products don’t retain allicin because it degrades easily. So you must be sure the label says it contains allicin. The products are sold as powder, liquid, and capsules.
Garlic is a very potent substance when used this way, it can hinder blood clotting along with rashes if used irresponsibly.

Colloidal Silver comes in liquid/cream form, and it is usually expensive and not too hard to find. It is literally “Silver Cream” as it has microscopic particles suspended in liquid! But don’t just go out and buy any Colloidal Silver cream, there are varying percents and sizes of silver particles that determine the effectiveness of the product.
With the silver there is a condition called Argyria that causes irreversible coloration of the skin, and you turn blue!!

The studies concluded that THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in regular high doses is effective particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of antibiotics. The studies I speak of were of the 5 major cannabinoids (cannabidiol, cannabichromene, cannabigerol, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and cannabinol) and each one showed very potent activity against a multitude of MRSA strains.

Some people may see this as a ploy to gain support about a deemed illicit drug, but thats not true at all. People who are going to retain this information to talk about need to understand that the treatments that were givin during these studies were intravenous or with pills containing synthetic/isolated compounds, and the doses were nowhere near what would be normally achievable by just smoking the herb. Sorry enthusists!!

When my mother told me she had MRSA I had no idea how detrimental it was to her health, and everyone around her. If you come in contact with something that has the germ on it, you have a extremely high chance of getting it. The truth is thousands of people die from this germ a year and it is not even documented as the cause of death, so the statistics are just that, statistics… Made up numbers.

There are many ways to cure MRSA naturally, I have researched this quite a bit untill my mother left my life to do her own thing. One way I know is to use Elecampane Root (commonly called wild sunflower, scabwort, and horseheal), it is said to instantly destroy the bug on contact. When I was told about this, the application for my mother was 2 to 3 eyedroppers under the tounge a day of Elecampane Root tincture. But there are a couple ways of doing it.

You can get Elecampane Root in capsules, teas, and tinctures. You can also buy powdered extract and make your own tea, about 1/4 teaspoon of powdered root in a cup of hot water up to three times a day. But I warn you!!! Its bitter!!!

Elecampane could cause allergic skin reactions, also people with diabetes should avoid elecampane. There are some studies that have shown it can effect blood sugar levels in large doses. Women who are pregnant should not use this herb, as it has been used traditionally to stimulate uterine contractions. In large doses, elecampane can cause diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, spasms, or even symptoms of paralysis.  But seriously, is any of this worse than the side effects from antibiotics that probably wont work?

Drug manufacturers, medical experts and scientists are still trying to develop new antibiotic treatments for MRSA. However, the prognosis does not look particularly great. For one thing, the MRSA bacterium is a highly evolving microorganism, and current studies show that the bacterium is quickly developing resistance to the “new” antibiotics, thereby rendering the new medications useless. Besides, when the MRSA bacterium jumps from one host to the other, it tends to “mutate” making it more virulent and erratic.

The phage therapy, or to be more precise: bacteriophage therapy is being tested as well. This principle relies on the fact that the phage (which is a bacterium too, like the MRSA bacterium) can help eradicate the virulent disease by slowly destroying the MRSA cells. The principle is almost similar to those of the white corpuscles of the immune system devouring destructive phages. So far, the bacteriophage therapy tests performed on laboratory mice have showed encouraging results. However, it could still take years or decades before it can be finally approved for human use. And until then, most detractors of the phage therapy points out that the MRSA bacterium would have “mutated” into a more unmanageable form, and may be strong enough to overcome the cultured bacteriophage.

Some scientists are now turning to alternative treatment options. According to reports, garlic – the ever pungent, kitchen staple – could be utilized top kill off the MRSA bacterium. However, fresh garlic is definitely not the way to go, and neither is consuming fresh garlic by the boatload. Doctors are also not advising patients to apply freshly “wounded” garlic cloves on the open sores of the skin, because that is one of the most painful things to do.

The garlic treatment actually goes thus: scientists have developed a special garlic cream preparation that is applied directly to the open wounds or lesions of the patients. Apparently, garlic contains the compound called allicin which is released when garlic cloves are bruised or damaged or wounded. Allicin has the ability to kill off almost all form of bacteria and stun further bacterial development. According to the studies, the compound allicin is even strong enough to totally eradicate the further occurrences of the MRSA bacterium. However, special preparations are still needed since allicin has a relatively short shelf life. Also, it takes a long time for the allicin to completely eradicate the MRSA bacterium. Small lesions could take as long as 12 weeks of daily application, and of course, there are areas of the human body where cream preparations are not advisable to use.

Still, such an alternative measure is great news, particularly since the MRSA bacterium can not seem to develop tolerance to the compound allicin.

One thing about MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus carriers is that a person would not really know unless the disease carriers immediately announce it. This is not a disease that can make a person’s nose turn purple or make the eyes grow noticeably bleary and red. In fact, for many mild cases of MRSA, the carriers themselves do not know they have it. At most, MRSA carriers can exhibit some symptoms similar to the flu; but otherwise, all other visible signs are mostly absent. Pimples on the skin (or if a person declares he or she has a pimple inside the nasal cavity) are physical signs of Staphylococcus Aureus, but that does not necessarily mean that the person has MRSA.

Staphylococcus Aureus can be cured by antibiotics and responds well to other forms of treatments and remedies. On the other hand, MRSA is non-responsive to antibiotics of any kind, and extreme cases are almost untreatable. And yes, it is very contagious. The only way to know for sure if a person has this disease is through a medical diagnosis.

What do you do if you have an MRSA carrier living in your home?

If you do have a loved one with a confirmed case of MRSA, then you should know that this is a highly contagious disease, and can easily transfer from one person to another. Unlike influenza though, this disease is not airborne. Therefore, sharing breathing spaces with an MRSA patient is not a likely source of contamination. Physical contact and using the things of the person with MRSA are almost positive avenues for contamination, though.

So if you do have someone, or if you yourself are a carrier of the disease, the best thing to do is to confine the area of movement. You could devote an entire room or floor to the person, restricting other family member from moving within the same vicinity. This cuts down the risk of touching the same things that the carrier has touched. Plates and eating utensils should be separate, as with any other bath and grooming products like shaving kits, toothpastes and soaps.

If space limitation is not possible at all, it is quite important to use disinfecting products all the time, especially in bathrooms and in the kitchen. Make sure that everyone practices good hygiene everyday. Washing your hands may seem like an innocuous activity, but this is the best preventive measure possible.

Also, if you are the carrier of the disease, it would be best to dispose of your leftovers. Storing whatever you have eaten in the refrigerator will only increase the bacteria’s strength over time. Given just a few hours, the food may eventually make you more ill. Or, if a family member eats your leftovers, you could be very well passing off a more virulent form of MRSA bacteria. Don’t drink from the milk carton, or if you do, dispose of the carton as soon as you are through drinking.

People with weak immune systems like very young children, or very frail elderly family members should also avoid any form of contact with the MRSA carrier. People just recovering from any form of illness or physical malady also tend to have weakened immune systems so contact with the afflicted person should be kept at a minimum. If another family member has an open sore – no matter how small (like a freshly popped pimple) – physical contact should be avoided at all cost.

In fact, SARS or severe acute respiratory disease, which suddenly exploded into the limelight in the later part of 2002, gained more media coverage than MRSA. SARS, although quite fatal, was only an epidemic and confined to a very small geography.

What is MRSA?

Discovered in the United Kingdom in 1961, MRSA is a bacterium that is very much resistant to all known man-made antibiotics. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Arureus is its complete scientific name. This is actually an umbrella term for most, if not all difficult to treat infections that is seen in Man. It can also be called Multiple Resistant Staphylococcus Arureus and Oxacillin Resistant Staphylococcus Arureus and can basically be detected in the skin and the sensitive nostril lining of a person. Once a person acquires MRSA, he or she develops staph infections.

The mildest cases may be treated with several medications, particularly those that can help the persons’ immune systems, like antibiotics. Mostly though, doctors can do no more than let the disease runs its course, and hopefully, the patients recover as soon as possible. The sooner the disease lets up, the less likely chances there are of internal damage. In the severest of cases, staph infections can eventually lead to multiple internal organ failures brought about by slow blood poisoning.

Why is it so deadly?

Staph infections can be seen in the forms of a pimple, a pustule or any small abscess in the skin or nostril lining. Unfortunately, for long term sufferers of this disease, pus (that yellowish substance that accumulates in the abscesses) starts to accumulate in the abscess. In turn, pus is filled with bacteria, and slowly leak into the blood supply of the person if the infection remains untreated. This is where blood poisoning begins. The worst part of this internal process is that: this happens in a very gradual manner, and the person with staph infection may simply dismiss its effects as the onset of flu. By the time medical aid is acquired sepsis may have set in. Sepsis is a state where the entire human body is already in an inflammatory state due to severe blood poisoning. In this case, the person is usually beyond medical help.

This is the reason why people should seek medical intervention as soon as possible, even with a seemingly innocuous case such as a pimple inside the nose cavity or a pustule on the skin that seems to take forever to heal. These are the most visible signs of MRSA. Also, MRSA is a very contagious disease. Although this is not an airborne disease like influenza, the simple act of touching the hands on an infected person can pass of the disease in an instant.

However, the staphylococcis aureus bacterium on its own can already cause major problems like all sorts of skin infections; a few examples of which include: abscesses, boils, carbuncles, furuncles, impetigo and pimples. If the staphylococcis aureus bacterium goes untreated, it can eventually lead to more fatal medical conditions like meningitis, pneumonia, and septicemia.

Unfortunately for the lot of us, MRSA is already a different strain of the staphylococcis aureus bacterium. This one has already evolved to be resistant to the known antibiotics that the medical field has to offer. And without the benefits of antibiotics, the human body has to fight off the disease with the strength of the immune system alone. Relying on the immune system is not necessarily bad. If the body’s immune system is at its peak form, the staphylococcis aureus bacterium might do very little damage, and the body will recover quickly.

However, in the case where MRSA begins to ravage an already weakened immune system, like those of very frail elderly people or those suffering from other medical maladies, the disease can quickly lead to the onset of septicemia and a relatively swift but painful demise. This is the reason why the MRSA is labeled as a superbug. There is no known cure for it yet, and it is one of the fastest acting killers on the loose.

Make no mistake about it: MRSA is not the only superbug out there. The disease, however, has already taken a lot of lives and continues to infect greater numbers of people. One more thing that makes this bacterium a superbug is that many people are not aware of the fact that they are already carriers until they exhibit extreme symptoms already.

Although miniscule, and primitive in form and function, the staphylococcis aureus bacterium is still a living organism. And like all other living organisms, this one has learned to adapt to its surroundings and evolve to its most lethal form, thereby making it one of the most successful living entities on the planet. As of late, the MRSA has already developed tolerance to most of the antibiotics that Man is using to ward of diseases. These penicillin-like antibiotics are: ephalosorins, dicloxacillin, methicillin, nafcillin, and oxacillin. Scientist and drug developers are continuing their research into new forms of antibiotics to combat the MRSA strain. The sad news here is that the superbug is adapting and developing a tolerance that makes the new antibiotics useless.

To further complicate the problem, superbugs tend to develop new “personalities” each time they jump from one infected host to another, making them more potent and unpredictable at the same time. So an outbreak of MRSA in a small community in China may be a totally different case as that of an MRSA outbreak in a hospital in Los Angeles.