MRSA Infections in Armageddon

Drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections kill 10-20,000 Americans each year.[1]  In a world with increasing problems with antibiotic resistance and a collapsing medical system, it behooves us to learn what we can do to protect our families.  So let’s take a closer look at regular staph and MRSA infections and how we can prepare for them.

Staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as staph, is a really common bacteria that causes skin infections and food poisoning, among other things.  Food poisoning with S. aureus has been addressed in other posts, and it has nothing to do with MRSA infections.  This article will focus on the staph infections that can develop into MRSA.

(The methicillin-resistant part of the MRSA name comes from methicillin, the first antibiotic doctors used to fight staph that had developed resistance to penicillin.  The staph bacteria first exhibited resistance to methicillin within one year.  Within eight years, the first major methicillin-resistant staph outbreak occurred in a hospital.[2]  Now MRSA has become synonymous with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and is sometimes called multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MDRSA, but really, everyone just calls it MRSA.)

Garden variety staph occurs naturally on the skin and in the nasal cavities.  We all have it to varying degrees, with about 33% of the population carrying it in the nose.  Frequent handwashing and bathing with soap and scrubbing reduces the bacterial load, and thus the opportunities for infection, significantly.  About 2-5% of the population carries MRSA.[3] 

Initially, MRSA infections were limited to immunocompromised and the very young and elderly, and they used to be hospital-acquired.  That is no longer the case.  MRSA–these multi-drug resistant staph bacteria—are everywhere. 

Regular staph infections of the skin may result in abscesses, boils, or cellulitis.  As previously discussed, abscesses and boils are generally not treated with oral antibiotics.  Because cellulitis involves the spread of the bacteria in the skin infection to the body (a systemic infection), like the lungs where pneumonia may develop, oral antibiotics are often used for treatment.  A regular staph infection may be treated with penicillin.  However, MRSA will not respond to penicillin.  In some cases, intravenous vancomycin is required.  And some strains of MRSA are resistant to even that.

Often, what people attribute to a spider bite is a tiny staph or MRSA infection.  (Basically, unless you saw the spider, doctors are not going to believe it’s not a spider bite.  They will treat it as a staph infection.[4])  The body will often deal with it well, and antibiotics are not needed (and indeed should be avoided).  However, if an infection develops and spreads, antibiotics may be needed. 

Most MRSA infections acquired outside of a clinical setting occur as the result of a simple break in the skin that permits the bacteria to enter the body.  The bacteria then go on to cause localized or systemic cellulitis, or they can colonize other areas and infect the blood, internal organs, heart valves, spinal cord, or bones.[5] 

Risk factors:

·       Simple skin break

·       Surgery

·       Breathing tubes and catheters

·       Compromised immune system

·       Being any place where people congregate—schools, day care, military

·       Participating in sports

·       Touching contaminated items—towels, razors, keyboards

·       IV drug use

Prevention

·       Wash hands and body well and frequently

·       Keep cuts, scrapes, and wounds clean and covered until healed

·       Do not share personal items like washcloths, towels, clothing, or razors

·       Get prompt care if you suspect an infection

Identification

Unfortunately, we cannot distinguish common staph infections from MRSA with the naked eye.  Even physicians cannot.  And in all likelihood, we will not have laboratory equipment to identify infections.  It’s going to come down to observation and guessing. 

Treatment

Conventional pharmaceutical management of MRSA infections include the following:

·       TMP-SMZ, 1 DS tablet 2 times per day, until 2-3 days after infection resolves[6]

·       Doxycycline, 50-100 mg, 2 times per day, until 2-3 days after infection resolves[7]

The above are usually still effective against MRSA.  Other options if the above fail to resolve the infection include ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin. [8]

Herbal management of common staph and MRSA infections is an option.  Numerous herbs have been proven successful in treating common staph and MRSA infections.  Which herbs are best will depend on the location of the infection and which other herbs you have to work with.  And unfortunately, for some herbs the references only indicate that they are used to treat MRSA, but without any further information as to how they are used or with which specific locations they are effective.

·       Artemisia (sagebrush) [9]

·       Black pepper[10]

·       Echinacea[11]

·       Ginger[12]

·       Honey (wounds)[13]

·       Isatis[14]

·       Japanese barberry (also Oregon grape and Nandina domestica)[15]

·       Juniper berry (for MRSA urinary tract infections)[16]

·       Licorice[17]

·       Usnea[18]

A combination treatment program with both conventional pharmaceuticals and herbs may be the best approach to eradicating a MRSA infection.  The following single herbs to potentiate antibiotics and combinations of herbs and pharmaceuticals have been shown effective.  Note that thyme is a powerful synergist.  Just a drop or two of the essential oil is all that is needed.

·       Geranium and ciprofloxacin[19]

·       Green tea[20]

·       Lemongrass[21]

·       Mesquite[22]

·       Pomegranate and ampicillin, gentamicin, oxacillin, or tetracycline[23]

·       Thyme

o   And tetracycline[24]

o   And rosemary[25]

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[1] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 27.

[2] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 12.

[3] Joseph Alton, Alton’s Antibiotics, 2018, 62.

[4] Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), General Information, Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/community/index.html (accessed 7 December 2021).

[5] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 40.

[6] Cynthia Koelker, Armageddon Medicine, 2012, 207.

[7] Cynthia Koelker, Armageddon Medicine, 2012, 207.

[8] Cynthia Koelker, Armageddon Medicine, 2012, 207.

[9] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 144-45.

[10] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 51-52.

[11] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 51-52.

[12] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 231.

[13] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 189, 195.

[14] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 51-52.

[15] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 164, 175, 212.

[16] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 180.

[17] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 222.

[18] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012; 51-52, 197.

[19] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 214.

[20] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 214.

[21] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 214.

[22] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 214.

[23] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 215.

[24] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 213.

[25] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 2012, 214.

8 december 2021