MRSA - Deadly new strain of MRSA reported in San Francisco...
Tuesday, 15th January 2008.
A new and deadly strain of MRSA bacterium is following in the footsteps of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) by targeting gay and bisexual men.
Sexually active gay and bisexual men in San Francisco are 13 times more likely to be infected than in the general population, researchers have reported.
In the city's Castro district - where more gay people reside than anywhere else in the USA, MRSA medical reports indicate that about one in 588 people are carrying the highly drug resistant bug.
The strain is a new and even harder to treat version of a recently identified community form of MRSA known as USA300.
Both are nastier cousins of the Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) commonly found in medical hospitals. However, the USA300 sub-type now spreading through the gay and bisexual community in San Francisco, is reported to be resistant to many more front-line antibiotics than MRSA.
The bacterium invade tissue under the skin, producing boils that can grow to the size of tennis balls.
Severe cases can lead to fatal blood poisoning (septicemia) or a deadly toxin-based 'flesh-eating' form of pneumonia that devours the lungs.
The USA300 strain was first identified in 1999 after it killed four young children in North Dakota.
Since then it has become a serious problem in America. Cases of Community Acquired MRSA (CAMRSA) are now the major medical cause of hospital admissions for infectious diseases in the USA.
In the UK community, CAMRSA is still rare, and so far only about two cases of MRSA -USA300 have been reported there. But experts fear it may only be a matter of time before the strain becomes established in Great Britain.
The US researchers are worried about promiscuous gay or bisexual men helping to spread the new bug into the general community. A similar infection route promoted the early HIV medical epidemic of the 1980s.
Dr Binh Diep, one of the study authors from San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, commented: "These multi-drug resistant infections often affect gay men at body sites in which skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activities. But because the bacteria can be spread by more casual contact, we are also very concerned about a potential spread of this strain into the general population.
"The potential widespread dissemination of the multi-resistant form of USA300 into the general population is alarming."
MRSA - USA300 is also prevalent among injecting drug users, and players of contact sports such as wrestling or American football.
The study, reported in the online edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, was based on a review of medical records from outpatient clinics in San Francisco and Boston, as well as nine of the 10 medical centres serving the Californian city.
As well as highlighting the infection rate in Castro, the researchers found that around one in 3,800 San Franciscans overall had the new strain - a surprisingly high number.
Medical records showed that sexually active gay and bisexual men in San Francisco were about 13 times more likely than the general population to be infected, but fears are growing that this could soon spread to the heterosexual population.
The new microbe is technically known as "multi-drug resistant, community-associated MRSA USA300".
It is not only resistant to methicillin, but also to a host of normally effective first-line antibiotics, which can include Vancomycin. This promotes the strain to a level above VRSA (Vancomycin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) which is difficult to treat.
Professor Henry Chambers, another member of the University of California at San Francisco team based at the General Hospital Medical Center, said: "Prompt diagnosis and the right treatment are crucial to prevent life-threatening infections and the spread of this bacteria to close contacts."
In their paper, the scientists call for more research into the link between MRSA transmission and unsafe sex.
Professor Mark Enright, from Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital, London, Britain's leading authority on MRSA, said: "It's quite surprising that the figures are so high."
"We do know that the USA300 strain is extremely good at spreading between people through skin-to-skin contact."
"The main reservoir for this infection is gay men, drug users, and those involved in contact sports, like wrestling. Having lots of sexual partners and making skin contact with a large number of different people helps the infection to spread."
"In the US it is already moving into the wider community, which is very worrying."
The bug was known to cause a form of toxin-based "flesh-eating" necrotising pneumonia which attacked the lungs and was difficult to treat, he said. About half of all those infected in this way had died.
Prof Enright added that; 'In one large prison in Chicago, Cook County Jail, 97% of the inmates were found to be carrying MRSA
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of hospital-acquired infection (HAMRSA) that is becoming increasingly difficult to treat successfully because of evolutionary resistance to nearly all current antibiotic classes. The evolutionary origins of MRSA are not really understood. There is little collaboration done with MRSA and there is no consensus of opinion on the number of MRSA Resistant Strains or the relationship of strains emerging from different countries.
The most important factor in treatment of MRSA is the ability of killing all the bacteria present, therefore inhibiting the ability of any remaining bacteria to form a resistant strain.
Vancomycin was the "antibiotic of last resort" but resistance to Vancomycin is now arising from some of the MRSA strains. This is a depressing progression of increasing antibiotic resistance, which shows that drugs do not wipe out all the bacteria present. Doctors are now reluctant to prescribe antibiotics for the treatment of MRSA, which leaves us with nothing.
Tests on The New Silver Solution have proven to eliminate bacteria to a level where no traceability has been found. It is also safe to use for prolonged periods of time, unlike antibiotics, which are time-limited and have shown great weakness in total eradication.
The safest route for any individual, is to become immunised against infection in the first instance. If you present at a Hospital, pathogen and bacteria free, then carry on with your immunisation program during your stay and for a period after discharge, there is a very significant and highly reduced factor of infection from MRSA.
Gymnasiums and public faculties are also a breeding ground for CAMRSA - Commmunity Acquired Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. CAMRSA is also on the increase. In some countries, like Africa, Iraq and the Middle East, it tops HAMRSA by a considerable degree. Wiping down equipment and avoiding sharing personal items with others, negates the spread of infection. The New Silver Solution can be used as a surfectant, as well as being taken internally for the prevention of MRSA.