New battle plan urged for hospital "superbug" (probiotics/yogurt)

[RedEarth]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The growing problem of drug-resistant staph infections in hospitals needs a fresh approach -- including antibiotic-free hospitals and perhaps a dose of "good" bacteria on surgeons' hands, one researcher argues.


Writing in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Dr. Mark Spigelman lays out a proposal for combating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. This so-called "superbug" is untreatable with most antibiotics and can cause potentially deadly complications like pneumonia, bloodstream infections and surgical wound infections.

........

The other part of Spigelman's proposal focuses on how surgeons' hands, and even patients' wounds, are cleaned. Similar to what happens with antibiotics, washing away the many harmless or "good" bacteria on the skin may "allow room" for MRSA and other resistant bugs to settle, Spigelman points out.

That doesn't mean it's time to scrap hand-washing, he said. Instead, he argues, studies could look into the usefulness of solutions containing beneficial bacteria, called probiotics. These bugs include the bacteria used in fermented foods like yogurt.

Bacteria, Spigelman points out, generally don't lie down on top of each other, but settle in isolated colonies. So slathering a probiotic solution on clean skin could set up a healthy population of good bacteria that would crowd out any harmful bugs that would have taken residence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051109/hl_nm/battle_superbug_dc

[havocmom]

1. Proactive bacteria. Sounds like a great plan

and reminds me I must get some new Bulgarian culture ordered up to keep my yogurt loving household supplied during the upcoming flu season

[Javaman]

2. Anti-bacterial soap is the worst thing to have near your kitchen sink...

I read a few things about this a couple of years ago. They give rise to super-bugs. Most of the reason we are seeing strap outside the hospital now is because of the over use of anti-bacterial soaps.

This probiotic is probably one of the best ideas to come along in a long time.

On a side note, I had a friend that was compulsively clean, washed his hands several times a day with the anti-bacterial stuff. He was always in fear of germs. Guess what? he was always sick. I told him what I just stated, he changed back to a normal bar of dove soap, he stopped getting sick.

We live in this bizarre society now that pushes pills for everything and brainwashed us into thinking everything is filthy and covered with germs, all so we believe we have to buy their crappy products.

As we reduce our resistance to germs, we become sick more often and come to rely on their crappy pills, see how it works?

The human body is an amazing machine. We are completely unaware of the myriad of diseases our body fights off everyday. But as we fall victim to advertising, our bodies defenses become weakened.

Here is a thought, since when does advertising ever look out for our best interests? Never.

Now eat your yogurt and go play in the mud! :)