Drug Treatment for MRSA

By dealing with everything quick and easy, things are often compromised. And when it comes to pain and diseases, drugs are available from store to store to relieve us from any ailments we are suffering from. Consequently, diseases evolve as bacteria and viruses develop resistance and survive even in big dosage of drugs.

Among these evolved diseases are the MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) Infections. Staph Aureus was first treated by methicillin by in just two years, new strains of bacteria resistant to methicillin developed. MRSA infections have already taken thousands of lives all over the world. Just in the United States, almost twenty thousand people die of MRSA infection every year. 

In the recent years, however, cases of MRSA mortality dropped and infections themselves has become less rampant compared to past years’ MRSA records. This is due to the active participation of different medical groups and hospitals in providing measures to control infection and by giving better home care measures. MRSA drug treatment has been in constant development to cope up with MRSA’s fast evolution.

In spite of these care measures, Staphylococcus aureus continues to evolve and resist other kinds of antibiotics such as penicillin, oxacillin, and amoxicillin. Some strains of MRSA are also often resistant to tetracycline (Sumycin), erythromycin (E-Mycin, Eryc, Ery-Tab, PCE, Pediazole, Ilosone), and clindamycin (Cleocin). This happens because MRSA, also called a superbug by many, can produce a substance called ß-lactamase which degrades penicillin and destroys its antibacterial ability.

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Present Treatment for MRSA Infections

Image via WikipediaIn spite of MRSA’s resistance to many antibiotics, most of its strains can still be treated with certain antibiotics, usually given as intravenous medicine. Depending on the nature of MRSA, one of the four commonly used MRSA drug treatments can be of help.

For patients colonised with MRSA, a nasal treatment and a skin wash can be done to prevent infection. Patients may also use a special antibiotic called mupirocin onto their skin or the inside of nose as a preventive MRSA drug treatment. This helps to kill MRSA while preventing the spread of bacteria either to other areas on the patient's body or to other people. However, some strains of MRSA are resistant to mupirocin.

For patients who are already infected by MRSA, antibiotics are often necessary. If infections are caused by normal strains of Staphylococcus aureus, flucloxacillin can be used for the treatment of the infection. But for infections caused by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, flucloxacillin will not be able to cure the infection. MRSA are also resistant to other types of antibiotics such as erythromycin and ciprofloxacin.

For MRSA infections, certain antibiotics such as vancomycin and teicoplanin can be used to treat the disease. Either or both of these drugs can be administered by infusion or injection to hospitalised patients. If injected into muscles, vancomycin is painful and so it is not used.

When MRSA bacteria infect or is present in the bloodstream, drugs such as Daptomycin, Vancomycin or Linezolid should be used for treatment.

For common skin infections often caused by community-acquired MRSA, doctors may incise and drain the wound and apply antibiotics such as bactrim. For infected wounds, other forms of remedy such as special honey, silver bandages, garlic preparations and tea tree oil can be applied to hasten recovery.

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