Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a growing public health concern mainly because of the difficulty in treating an infection that has developed resistance to standard therapies. While there are other therapeutic options to treat these bacteria, it stands to reason that over time they may also become resistant to standard treatment protocols.

With this in mind, scientists are continually searching for other ways to address this problem, and one answer may lie in a bog. A cranberry bog, that is. Scientists have discovered that cranberry juice prevented Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from initiating infection.

Cranberry juice has been studied extensively in relation to urinary tract infections and E. coli, but researchers recently began to direct their attention to staph infections because it is an important public health threat due to the fact that they resist most forms of conventional treatment.

In the study in question, volunteers were asked to drink either cranberry juice cocktail or a placebo (control beverage) that looked and tasted like cranberry juice. Urine samples were taken and incubated with different forms of bacteria, including S. aureus. Bacterial density was measured as a way to determine the ability of the bugs to grow, thereby indicating their infectious potential.

What they found was that when people drank cranberry juice, it inhibited the both E.coli and S.aureus from forming biofilms, which are necessary for bacteria to form colonies and thereby proliferate. The inhibition was particularly effective against staph, which is surprising given that the bacteria is particularly effective at forming these biofilms.

Staph infections utilize a different binding mechanism than E.coli, and more work needs to be done in order to better understand this process, but the initial results are nonetheless promising. They may also potentially reveal more information that may be used to create drugs that will target staph infections, as well as developing surfaces that are more resistant to the bacterial binding.

MRSA infections are a growing problem because they are not effectively treated with common antibiotics like penicillin and amoxicillin. Most MRSA infections are located on the skin, and dangerous or life-threatening forms usually occur in health care facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes.

However, there has been an increase in the incidence of MRSA infections occurring outside of the health care setting. These infections, known as community associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) are usually transmitted by skin-to-skin contact and mostly occur in places where people have close contact with one another, including school, daycare facilities, and other crowded locations.

Staph infections usually manifest themselves as small bumps that look like pimples or bug bites. They can then progress into deep and painful abscesses that can lead to more serious systemic problems.

If you have a sore that concerns you, speak to your doctor. For more information about MRSA, visit the website for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This post was included in the latest Carnival of Natural Health.