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What You Need to Know About MRSA and What to Do About It
By: Jeanine Thomas
Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) infections can be difficult to treat because the bacteria are resistant to many different antibiotics.
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (usually shortened to Staph aureus). It is a bacterium that is resistant to many commonly used antibiotics, including methicillin.
Unfortunately, over time Staph aureus continues to mutate and acquire new antibiotic resistance patterns, making treatment of MRSA infections challenging.
Penicillin: a miracle drug emerges
Staph aureus was discovered in the 1880s. It was known to cause infections, including blood poisoning, and surgical deaths. When the antibiotic penicillin came into use in the 1940s, effective treatment for Staph infections became possible for the first time.
Penicillin was used widely to treat different types of infections. Some people even suggested it should be put into the public water supplies.
Now years later, we see the folly of our ways. The overuse and misuse of not only penicillin but many other antibiotics have allowed Staph (and other bacterial species) to mutate and become resistant to most antibiotics.
