Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics. In the community, most MRSA infections are skin infections. In medical facilities, MRSA causes life-threatening bloodstream infections, pneumonia and surgical site infections. In the past few years, the percentage of MRSA has shown a significant decreasing trend at EU/EEA level, and either a continuous decrease or a stabilizing trend was observed in most EU/EEA countries during the last four years. However, MRSA remains above 25% in almost one fourth of the reporting countries, mainly in southern and eastern Europe. In the US an 8 percent decrease in hospital-onset MRSA bacteremia between 2011 and 2013 was recorded according to recent Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) report. Nevertheless, new approaches in decreasing MRSA infections are more then welcome. Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego developed a gel filled with toxin-absorbing nanosponges that could lead to an effective treatment for skin and wound infections caused by MRSA. This “nanosponge-hydrogel” minimized the growth of skin lesions on mice infected with MRSA – without the use of antibiotics. The team also reports that removing bacterial toxins with nanosponges could potentially lead to clearing up MRSA and prevented further damage to the local blood, skin and muscle tissues. So……, we have to wait few years before this promising technology becomes available for the human use. Until then, prudent antibiotic use and comprehensive infection control strategies targeting all healthcare sectors (acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities and ambulatory care) are the cornerstones of effective interventions that aim to prevent selection and transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/progress-report/index.html
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eaad/Documents/EARS-Net-summary.pdf
Fei Wang, Weiwei Gao, Soracha Thamphiwatana, Brian T. Luk, Pavimol Angsantikul, Qiangzhe Zhang, Che-Ming J. Hu, Ronnie H. Fang, Jonathan A. Copp, Dissaya Pornpattananangkul, Weiyue Lu, and Liangfang Zhang. “Hydrogel Retaining Toxin-Absorbing Nanosponges for Local Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection.” Advanced Materials 2015. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201501071
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/progress-report/index.html
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eaad/Documents/EARS-Net-summary.pdf
Fei Wang, Weiwei Gao, Soracha Thamphiwatana, Brian T. Luk, Pavimol Angsantikul, Qiangzhe Zhang, Che-Ming J. Hu, Ronnie H. Fang, Jonathan A. Copp, Dissaya Pornpattananangkul, Weiyue Lu, and Liangfang Zhang. “Hydrogel Retaining Toxin-Absorbing Nanosponges for Local Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection.” Advanced Materials 2015. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201501071