3 New Ideas for preventing and treating MRSA recurrences

This article is dedicated to people who are suffering from multiple repeat MRSA skin infections.

My hope here is to point you to 3 new treatment ideas that may be helpful in your struggles.

First things first, you should at least be following this decolonization protocol (or some form of it) as found in this clinical trial decolonization study :

Drug: 2% Mupirocin Ointment (Bactroban, by prescription only)

Apply ointment to the anterior nares twice daily for 5 days.

Drug: 4% Chlorhexidine liquid soap (Hibenclens, available at your local drug store)

Bathe with liquid soap daily for 5 days.

Behavioral: Hygiene protocol

Follow key hygiene tips indefinitely. Tips are:

• Throw out all lotions or creams that you dip your hands into and replace with pumps or pour bottles.
• Use liquid(pour or pump) soaps instead of bar soaps.
• Wash hands frequently or use hand sanitizer(with more than %60 alcohol) such as Germ-X or Purell.
• Do not share personal care items such as razors and brushes.
• Wash all sheets and towels in hot water. Wash sheets every week.
• Use towels and wash cloths only once before washing and do not share.

If you live with a family, consider having the entire family follow the above protocol.

Okay, if you are following the above and still have getting recurrences, you may consider trying bacteriophages, probiotics (for the skin), and CLO2 bath.

For each section, I provide links where you can get more information and do your own research. You may also be able to contact the companies I listed below and see if they can provide you with more information.

I did not contact any of these companies. I was merely searching for alternative MRSA treatments and found that these may be helpful.

Bacteriophage
Bacteriophages are bacteria's natural predators. They destroy and kill bacteria such as MRSA. The downside is that you need to find the right bacteriophage that is specific to the bacteria that you want to kill, in our case, MRSA.

For more information on bacteriophages, watch this really interesting and informative BBC video, and go to this website for more information.

The idea here is to get a culture/swab of your MRSA bacteria and send it to the Clinic in Tiblisi, Georgia. Once they receive your culture, the Clinic will analyze and find the right bacteriophage that is specific to your MRSA strain. They could then prepare the bacteriophages (most likely in small glass vials as shown in the video) and send you a TBD (to be determined) supply of them. You would then administer the bacteriophages by putting it in your bath water, putting it in a spray bottle and spraying directly to infected skin areas, nose, etc.

The great thing about bacteriophages is that it is specific to a certain bacteria. Once it encounters the bacteria, it destroys the bacteria. In the process of killing the bacteria, the bacteriophages actually multiplies and grows (by feeding off of the it) until all the bacteria is destroyed. Once the bacteria is destroyed, the bacteriophages breaks down and goes away.

The take away point here is that it does not destroy good bacteria (or bad bacteria that it is not targeted for).

I have not contacted the clinic for additional information but I really believe it may be entirely possible to do everything via air mail and email and NOT actually have to phsyically fly over there to get treatment. The downside is it may be expensive and take a considerable amount of time (to mail things back and forth).


Probiotics
A company by the name of Gandenlabs, a subsidary Ganden Biotech has patented a method of using probiotics to help prevent bacteria infections on the skin.

Here is a link to their patent. In this patent, they disclose how to make a probiotic bath and probiotic lotions that help prevent skin infections.

The idea here is similar to the theory behind taking probiotics to prevent infections in your gut: You populate your skin with GOOD bacteria so that there will be no room for the BAD bacteria to grow.

Ganden has developed a strain of probiotics called GandenBC that is STRONGER than your typical probiotic.

They claim that their Bacillus coagulans

• SURVIVABILITY Bacillus coagulans survive the manufacturing process and harsh stomach acids to reach the intestinal tract*
• SHELF STABLE Bacillus coagulans requires no refrigeration
• COLONIZATION Bacillus coagulans successfully colonizes the intestines*
• SAFETY 50-plus year history of safe use
• LACTIC ACID PRODUCTION Bacillus coagulans produces the preferred L+ optical isomer of lactic acid*

This is an excerpt from section 7.10 from their patent for treating skin infections:

A water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsion, cream, lotion, or gel, containing approximately 1×10⁶ to 1×10⁹ Bacillus coagulans spores/ml may be used. An exemplary topical gel is prepared by mixing together equal volumes of propylene glycol and water, 1% by weight hydroxypropyl cellulose (MW of 100,000 to 1,000,000 Daltons) and lyophilized Bacillus coagulans culture to a final concentration of approximately 1×10⁶ to 1×10⁹ Bacillus coagulans spores/ml of the combination, and allowing the stirred mixture to sit for 3 to 5 days to form a gel. Other formulations are also presented herein.

The Bacillus coagulans-containing emulsion, cream, lotion, or gel is applied to the area of the skin showing superficial skin infections (e.g., pustules, boils, abscesses, styes or carbuncles) or rash and gently rubbed into the skin and allowed to air-dry. Applications are at-least once per day, and preferably two to three times per day (e.g., morning and night), or after each washing of the infected area for those areas which are washed frequently (e.g., the hands or diaper area). Applications are continued until skin inflammation has subsided and the skin appears normal to the observer. In cases where scab formation has occurred in the infected area, once daily applications are continued until the scabs are no longer present.

Chlorine Dioxide (CLO2)

Chlorine Dioxide is used to treat water by killing the harmful bacteria and virus. It is used by many outdoor enthusiasts who go camping and hiking.

One product that stood out is Klearwater:

From their website, it states that:

KlearWater active Chlorine Dioxide water treatment differs from all other available water treatments in several significant ways;

A) KlearWater is the world's only active, ready to use, Chlorine Dioxide water treatment. Chlorine Dioxide is recognized as one of the most effective methods of eliminating bacteria and viruses from water and surfaces.

B) KlearWater is relatively unaffected by temperature or the PH of the water being treated. It is less affected than other Chlorine Dioxide products because of its durable formulation.

C) KlearWater is multi-use; it can be used as a water treatment, an oral rinse, a surface cleaner and as an emergency wash for cuts, scrapes and blisters. This is an important consideration when packing light for an extended hike. Because of KlearWater's proprietary formula it is more durable than competing products allowing pathogen kills at lower concentrations.

You may have been suggested to try using a Bleach Bath to help prevent MRSA infections but I think that a Chlorine Dioxide Bath using KlearWater would work just as well without the harmful side effects of chlorine.

I think the approach here would be to fill your bath tub 1/3 full and put in the recommended dosage for the amount of water. I would then wait about 10-15 minutes before going into the bath.

Note: Chlorine Dioxide does not actually contain any chlorine.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I have not (yet) tried any of the above methods. Please do your own research and make sure that you are 100% comfortable with any approach before using it.