Treating MRSA, Preventing It Where It May Breed

Drug-resistant staph, known as MRSA, began making headlines in October, when the CDC released a report indicating that many healthy citizens carry the bacteria, which kills more people each year in the U.S. than AIDS. Two recent stories, one on research on a possible MRSA treatment and another on the threat of the bacteria on factory farms, may put the “superbug” back under the public microscope.

Last week, The Scientist reported on experiments at a Tufts lab involving a compound that can regulate the spread (free registration) of antibiotic-resitent strains like MRSA. Bacteria regularly targeted with antibiotics can mutate, evolving resistance to drugs, but “as opposed to antibiotics which target and kill bacteria, prompting them to thicken biofilm layers and devise other antibiotic-resistant measures,” the new therapy utilizes an RNAIII-inhibiting peptide, or RIP, which “makes the bacteria think they are alone in their microenvironment, and do not need to spread. Thus, in combination with antibiotic treatment, RIP may lessen bacteria defenses.”

The ability to treat drug-resistant infections could save thousands of lives each yeah, but the other facet of the problem involves preventing the development of these virulent strains where they evolve.

Michael Pollan follows one possible trail in his NYT Magazine article, “Our Decrepit Food Factories,” back to animal feedlots, where factory farms employ massive amounts of antibiotics to protect pigs, chickens, and cattle from various infections before they reach maturity. He reports that the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that “at least 70 percent of the antibiotics used in America are fed to animals living on factory farms.” This means that feedlots may be a prime breeding ground not just for U.S. meat products, but also for resistant bacteria.

He points to recent research in Europe and Canada confirming that this is the case for pig-raising operations: “A European study found that 60 percent of pig farms that routinely used antibiotics had MRSA-positive pigs (compared with 5 percent of farms that did not feed pigs antibiotics).” MRSA moved from animal populations to humans in the Netherlands, as well as in Ontario.

Pollan is careful to indicate that there has not yet been any confirmation that MRSA infections in the U.S. originated from animal populations. But the FDA is moving sluggishly–if at all–to gather data on the issue, indicating earlier this month “that it may begin a pilot screening program with the C.D.C.”

With such strong indicators that feedlots may be a source of resistant staph strains, the Federal government should move quickly to investigate if the practices that produce cheap meat are not also producing deadly pathogens.

Tags: medicine

Comments on this article

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.