Poor Choice of Antibiotic Treatment Could Worsen MRSA Superbug Infection

MRSA superbug infected patients treated using a wrong antibiotic will worsen the infection even more, reported a new study.People infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA superbugs are generally treated using common antibiotics called as beta-lactam antibiotics.

Beta-lactam antibiotics consist of a broad range of medicines including penicillin derivatives. They mostly work by damaging bacterial cell walls.

Lead scientist Dr George Liu, from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said, "Individuals infected with MRSA who receive a beta-lactam antibiotic - one of the most common types of antibiotics - could end up being sicker than if they received no treatment at all."

The scientists have discovered that using Beta-lactam antibiotics can fire up an immune response that triggers harmful inflammation. They conducted tests on mice to know about the changes taking place inside their body.

When MRSA bugs are exposed to the antibiotics, a gene in the microbe is activated that results in releasing of cell wall fragments. This action has led to worse skin infections in MRSA-infected mice.

"Our findings underscore the urgent need to improve awareness of MRSA and rapidly diagnose these infections to avoid prescribing antibiotics that could put patients' lives at risk," said George.

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The scientists said that these findings could have important clinical implications, but more research is needed involving human patients. The findings have been published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Source-Medindia