Staph

[maud gonne]

I brought this up on another forum as well. Does anyone know whether there are any "natural" cures for staph. My son in Puna has some infections and says he's going to take care of it with herbs, fasting, etc. I said get thee to the Pahoa clinic and get antibiotics immediately. My understanding is it's a very serious condition, especially in the tropics. Any advice, herbal or otherwise? Noni?

[pslamont]

MRSA is methacillin resistant staph aureus (forgive my spelling) and is usually hospital aquired inthe USA although it is common in most of the world.

Any skin staph infection can usually be cured without antibiotics. Staph skin infectons usually cause a boil or sebaceous cyst. This can be drained, the area washed well and frequently, then kept dry and covered to prevent spread.

Blood borne staph infections are a different matter. They require IV antibiotics as a rule.

So... if your son has a staph skin infection, no matter what herbs are used, if the ares is cleansed thoroughly and drained and kept clean... it will probably be okay!

Aint good news fun?

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[Lee DeJongh]

Clarification needed.

There are two main types of Staphylococcus (Staph) bacteria.

S. epidermitis is common on skin in most everybody, gives rise to superficial infections under the right circumstances, heat, humidity, lack of cleanliness, and is easily treated in most people by keeping wounds clean and dry. Diabetes and others with decreased immune response or poor wound healing can have big problems with this bacterium.

S. aureus is a virulent pathogen. MRSA is methicillin resistent S. aureus. The usual treatment for an infection with s. aureus is surgery to drain abcesses plus antibiotics. If MRSA then take Vancomycin a powerful but nasty antibiotic, if not MRSA then there are other antibiotics.

The determining feature is which bug is it? What is the health status of the person ? and exactly where and what is infected? S aureus kills. In the preantibiotic era (which I would remind you is World War II, not that long ago) S aureus was a major killer and staph ultimately killed the first person treated with penicillin.

He cut himself shaving, developed septicemia and was the first person treated (early 40s) with the new drug penicillin. It worked but the supply ran out and he died. In the early years patients urine was captured and treated to recover the excreted penicillin they had been given to prolong the supply.

Respectfully



Edited by - lee dejongh on 07/11/2007 05:51:34

[aprild]

Hi, Maud,
He should stay away from the beach and out of the ocean until it is gone.


april

[missydog1]

as was said, he needs to go to doctor pronto and determine if he has MRSA and then not mess around with it. There are lots of MRSA cases in Puna; my son got it and the Bay Clinic in Kea'au treated him and said it was very common. For the initial treatment they went with Bactrim (sulfa) and if that didn't do it they would move to the vancomycin which has to be administered IV in hospital.

If any of the flesh is warm to the touch, he should deal with it immediately.

That said, echinacea is said to have anti-staph qualities and to help boost the immune system, but don't rely on it to knock out MRSA.

[Jeffhale]

I do not know about the different Staphs, much, except due to my friends condition I would not take any staph infection lightly.

This fellow, English, lived in England was a good Internet friend, I'd known for a few years. Suddenly without warning his wife announced he was in the hospital, with a staph infection. he had an ingrown toenail which became infected. Apparently his local-or home treatment was un effective and worsened. By the time he went to the hospital, they cut off his toe in short order, within the same day they cut off his leg. A few days later he died..

[Kapohocat]

quote:

---

...as was said, he needs to go to doctor pronto and determine if he has MRSA and then not mess around with it. There are lots of MRSA cases in Puna; my son got it and the Bay Clinic in Kea'au treated him and said it was very common. For the initial treatment they went with Bactrim (sulfa) and if that didn't do it they would move to the vancomycin which has to be administered IV in hospital.

If any of the flesh is warm to the touch, he should deal with it immediately.

That said, echinacea is said to have anti-staph qualities and to help boost the immune system, but don't rely on it to knock out MRSA.

---

I have gotten cellusitis twice in the last 3 years. What that is a infection resembling a cyst of pus or a blister from the inside out. The cause can be staph or strep (like in strep throat). The clinic and doctors office in Hilo have been sent a directive to watch for this infection and MRSA staph - to prescribe an anitbiotic of considerable strength with a sulfa drug like Bactrim, IN COMBINATION. If there is a fever, and hot to the touch spot, interveinous antibiotics such a Levaquin or a shot of antibiotics daily such as Rossefin for 5 days may be required, as may hospitalization. Do not fool with this stuff. Two construction workers I knew got it and ended up hospitalized.

Get to a doctor!

Prophilacticly, oil of oregano tablets have had good success with keeping minor infections at bay. The AMA has studied it extensively and has found conclusively that it can work. The oil is a bit different, it will burn and irritant if placed directly on the skin, or an open wound.

Here at my house, with coming into contact with who knows what from job sites all over the East Side, I take extreme care that if I get a cut, I wash it out completely, and neosporin applied twice a day. If it even begins to feel warm, I am off to Keaau. My SO had one that within 20 hours of a bug bite on a job site, had a fever of 102+. He had gotten staph that quickly even after coming home, showering and neosporin.

[pslamont]

Okay, actually MRSA is now showing resistance to vancomycin too.... shall we have an epidemiology lesson?

Here are some interesting references:

^ Knox A. "Harnessing honey's healing power", BBC News, 2004-06-08.
^ Molan C (2001-12). Honey as a topical antibacterial agent for treatment of infected wounds. World Wide Wounds.
^ "Maggots help cure MRSA patients", BBC News, 2007-05-02.
^ "Maggots rid patients of MRSA", EurekAlert!/AAAS, 2007-05-03.

These are references to the Honey and Maggots being used by naturopaths.... CDC is recognizing them, though I personally haven't bought into it yet. Of course, I didn't buy into Leaches which returned to the medical arena in the 1990's...

Several new strains of MRSA have been found showing antibiotic resistance even to vancomycin and teicoplanin; those new evolutions of the MRSA bacteria are dubbed vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA).[19][20] Linezolid, quinupristin/dalfopristin, daptomycin, tigecycline are used to treat more severe infections that do not respond to the glycopeptides such as vancomycin.[21] MRSA infections can be treated with oral agents such as linezolid, rifampicin+fusidic acid, rifampicin+fluoroquinolone, pristinamycin, co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), doxycycline or minocycline, and clindamycin.

References for t5his information are :
^ Sieradzki K, Tomasz A (1997). "Inhibition of cell wall turnover and autolysis by vancomycin in a highly vancomycin-resistant mutant of Staphylococcus aureus". J. Bacteriol. 179 (8): 2557-66. PMID 9098053.
^ Schito GC (2006). "The importance of the development of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus". Clin Microbiol Infect 12 Suppl 1: 3-8. PMID 16445718}.
^ Mongkolrattanothai K, Boyle S, Kahana MD, Daum RS (2003). "Severe Staphylococcus aureus infections caused by clonally related community-acquired methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant isolates". Clin. Infect. Dis. 37 (8): 1050-8. PMID 14523769.
^ Birmingham MC, Rayner CR, Meagher AK, Flavin SM, Batts DH, Schentag JJ (2003). "Linezolid for the treatment of multidrug-resistant, gram-positive infections: experience from a compassionate-use program". Clin. Infect. Dis. 36 (2): 159-68. PMID 12522747.

Now this is all really over the top.

Point is that my original statement stands. Yes, there is MRSA, and it can become blood bourne and then is a serious problem, but generally the infection son has told mom about is probably a topical infection (and they ARE rampant in Puna). So, Mom, don't panic. He will be well cared for. Here in Hawaii, if his infection were to become systemic, he will be cared for at the local hospital and it will be well done!!

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[maud gonne]

All of you lovely folks who answered are so kind! And informative. Update is, it seems it was skin (topical) rash or staph - he called it staph. He got herbs from the health food store, fasted two days, and says "It's all gone." So... I don't know what to think, but I am still going to pass on some of the wisdom I got from this forum. Especially the washing, the "warm to the touch," etc. He's an extremely healthy soul, but the tropics and its flora & fauna are new to his body. Thank you all.

[ricklt23]

Another thing to consider is Impetigo.
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infecti...etigo.html
When I was living on Oahu it was a very common condition-my ex and her entire family had it at one time or another.
Bacterial infection but a little different than MRSA.