| The superbug is not a universally known term, but it is | | | | good old-fashioned natural selection. One of those |
| increasingly being used in many industrialized countries | | | | characteristics is resistance to specific antibiotics. The |
| to represent MRSA or methicillin-resistant | | | | wide use of antibiotics, especially in industrialized |
| Staphylococcus aureus. | | | | economies, has led to many of the non-resistant |
| As the name suggests, this is a bacterium that is | | | | strains being killed off, leaving the mutant resistant |
| resistant to the antibiotic methicilin. MRSA is a strain of | | | | strains behind and allowing them to multiply. |
| Staphylococcus aureus that often is found on the skin | | | | What is the Answer? |
| or in the nose. It can often cause minor problems such | | | | 1. We need to reduce the liberal use of antibiotics |
| as boils, abscesses or rashes. It can also cause | | | | otherwise we will inevitably see more resistant |
| serious illnesses such as endocarditis, pneumonia, | | | | bacteria. This is not a solution to the current problem, |
| septicemia and meningitis, especially in the very young, | | | | but a way to prevent (or at least curtail) the evolution |
| the very weak, the elderly and those who are | | | | of new superbugs. |
| pregnant. | | | | 2. A new method is to allow a controlled release of a |
| There are also strains of Staphylococcus aureus that | | | | virus - called a phage - that will attack bacteria. Phage |
| are resistant to the antibiotics erythromycin, | | | | therapy is still under development but may be a lifeline |
| tetracycline and vancomycin and the oxazolidinone | | | | in the battle against the superbug. |
| Linezolid. | | | | 3. We must improve hygiene so that the bacteria do |
| Another bacterium that is known as a superbug in | | | | not appear in the first place. This means we must |
| many regions is Enterococcus faecium. It also can | | | | wash our hands when we visit the washroom and use |
| demonstrate resistance to the above antibiotics. | | | | biocidal wet wipes where appropriate. |
| How did it Happen? | | | | Disease-carrying flies and wasps must be prevented |
| Occasionally these bacteria will produce a mutant. | | | | from entering vulnerable locations such as kitchens, |
| Normally such a mutant would either not survive or | | | | hospitals, kindergartens and rest homes using fly |
| have no effect on the their evolution. Occasionally, a | | | | screens. If they do enter, they must be killed using fly |
| mutant will have an extraordinary characteristic that is | | | | killing machines. |
| beneficial (to it, and not to us unfortunately). This is | | | | |