MRSA — How Did We Get Here?

Posted in These Categories: Studies and Hospital Acquired Infections feature-main

Medizone International, Inc. (OTCBB and OTCQB: MZEI) (http://medizoneint.com)

Scientists at Britain’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute created genetic blueprints of 63 samples of MRSA collected around the world between 1982 and 2003, and tracked even minor DNA variation to trace how one common strain — called ST239 — spread, from continent to continent and within one hospital in Thailand.

What strikes me as so significant about this research is the pervasiveness of MRSA and the crucial role AsepticSure™ has to play in the containment.

Research, published in the journal Science, established that a strain of MRSA probably emerged in Europe in the 1960s. This lends support to the theory that the widespread introduction of antibiotics in that decade may have spawned MRSA. Natural selection would have favored resistant strains that could survive the antibiotic onslaught.

By using DNA-mapping to identify changes in the bacteria’s genetic code, scientists were able to track the transmission of the ST239 strain of MRSA between continents and from patient to patient.

It was indicated that hospital outbreaks of drug-resistant staph bacteria do not always spread from one patient to another, but that numerous people — patients, visitors or staff — bring in the bacteria.

The study indicated that multiple subtypes or MRSA exist that standard testing cannot identify.

It is estimated that about one in every three people carries staph aureus in their noses with no symptoms but still can infect others; about 1 million people in the U.S. carry the MRSA type. The germs usually cause skin infections but can be deadly if they penetrate the bloodstream or organs.

The resulting family tree suggests this MRSA strain originated in Europe in the 1960s, just as antibiotics were being widely used. It spread to South America and became dominant in parts of Asia.

Of 20 ST239 patients during seven months in that Thai hospital, only five shared the same exact infection. The germs’ genetic diversity showed the rest were coincidentally brought into the hospital.

Hospital-acquired MRSA has long been thought more dangerous than MRSA caught in ordinary community settings, perhaps because the already hospitalized are more vulnerable.

This study shows “there’s a blurring in distinction” between the two, said study co-author Dr. Sharon Peacock of the University of Cambridge. Hospital efforts such as hand-washing and room-cleaning only help so much if MRSA spreaders keep walking in the front door.

Britain last year began requiring that some patients be tested for MRSA upon hospital admission, she said, and some U.S. hospitals do that, too. But Vanderbilt’s Creech cautioned that a simple yes-no MRSA swab does not give the detail necessary to tell which subtype could cause trouble.

This more sophisticated testing takes a few weeks and about $300 per sample, making it suitable mostly for researchers tracing outbreak hot spots. But Creech said similar study is under way to better understand MRSA’s genetics in hopes of developing a vaccine.

Contact: Medizone International, Inc. (OTCBB: MZEI)
http://www.medizoneint.com

Telephone: 415-868-0300
Fax: 415-868-2344
Address:
Post Office Box 742
Stinson Beach, CA 94970

Medizone International, Inc., is a research and development company engaged in developing its AsepticSure™ System to decontaminate and sterilize hospitals, sports training facilities, schools and other critical infrastructure. A government variant is being developed for bio-terrorism counter measures.  Successful decontamination by AsepticSure™ to the 6 log standard or greater has been demonstrated with C.difficile, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginous, MRSA, VRE and Bacillius subtilis.

This release contains certain forward looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of ongoing clinical studies, economic conditions, product and technology development, production efficiencies, product demand, competitive products, competitive environment, successful testing and government regulatory issues. Additional risks are identified in the company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tweet This Post

Tags: hospital acquired infections MRSA ST239