A new technology to fight MRSA infection can avoid antibiotics, and may be better for us as well.

A new technology to MRSA infection can avoid antibiotics, and may be better for us as well.

It is no secret that MRSA infection can mean life or death. The truth is, bacteria are becoming resistant to even the newest antibiotics due to adaptation and our overuse of the miracle cure that began with Penicillin’s discovery in 1928.

MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) kills an estimated 8200 people per year and it is estimate that even with all the precautions taken to avoid post surgical infection, 5-10% of all surgeries have infections from surgical procedures, amounting to approximately 275,000 patients per year. Imagine the costs added to our already expensive healthcare system when these infections occur.

After infection is successfully treated, scar tissue that inhibits function is a common side effect than can be painful and debilitating many years after the infection has been successfully treated.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical center, lead by David J. Brenner PHD are evaluating the effect of far-UVC light which cannot penetrate the dead layer of skin that coats living, growing skin, or the outer layer of the eye. This wavelength unlike the UV light from the sun is not harmful to us because of its properties, however,bacterial cells are 10-25 times smaller than human cells and, therefore, still susceptible to the far-UVC’s damaging rays.

Current studies suggest that the use of far-UVC does not damage skin cells, but will kill bacteria, and may be a smarter way to treat MRSA than by using antibiotics, while avoiding the side effects as well.

While this is still being studied, you can read about this innovative approach which is being used to treat surgical suites between patient and help them stay germ free. Read the article below

Specific UV light kills MRSA without damaging human tissue
Published Thursday 9 June 2016

A clean surgery refers to an operation carried out in a sterile environment where no inflammation, infection, or unexpected tissue damage occurs.

Even in these ideal situations, an estimated 0.5-10 percent of procedures result in surgical-site infections (SSI).

That equates to around 275,000 patients in the United States per year. Individuals with SSIs have a mortality rate twice that of someone without an infection.