Scientists find way to ‘scour away’ MRSA and food poisoning infection |
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Wed, 28 Dec 2005 08:05
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EDINBURGH: A simple sponge worth 11p holds the key to the treatment of food poisoning and MRSA - the deadly hospital infection, a group of researchers said yesterday.
Researchers found a particular microbe that produces a powerful protein that could effectively kill the MRSA superbug. The potential life-saving bacteria were discovered earlier this year growing on fucus seaweed in the Firth of Forth. Attempts to cultivate the bacteria under lab conditions revealed a surprising result.
The scientists tried to grow the bacteria in glass containers containing meat broth. However, the bacteria produced the antibiotic protein only when a particular brand of scouring pad was placed in the broth. The researchers were surprised that no other brand of sponge worked as effectively. They wondered if the sponge had certain properties - such as its shiny surface, that helped breed the bacteria.
Prof. Brian Austin who had discovered the bacteria, said he wanted to know why the bacteria thrived only on this particular sponge and not on any other brand. This strain of bacteria attacked and ate away at the superbug. He had great hopes for the antibiotic which the bacteria produced as it kills not only the MRSA superbug but also the food poisoning infection Listeria.
MRSA is a familiar infection in modern hospitals and has killed thousands of patients. As its name ‘Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus’ suggests, the disease has so far resisted most antibiotics, save the one produced in the recent tests with the sponge.
The sponge is available in packs of 89p each consisting of 8 scouring pads available at Morrisons supermarket. Prof. Austin tried to track the sponge manufacturers through Morrisons who weren’t very helpful. All they said was that it was a UK manufacturer.
The professor said he would very much like to know what the manufacturers put in the scouring pad that made it so special. It would be useful in the researchers’ efforts to create an effective cure for MRSA, he said.
Prof Austin leads the team from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh that has been trying to develop the antibiotic.
When contacted, the supermarket said it was trying to trace the sponge manufacturer through its suppliers.
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Hospitals hit with superbug scare; community calls for clean up 