\r\n \r\n Widespread antibiotic use in 1960s sparked MRSA
\n
\nEarly use of antibiotics in the 1960s may have given birth to one of the most common strains of MRSA, a study has found.
\n
\n
\n
\nBy Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
\nPublished: 7:30AM GMT 22 Jan 2010
\n
\n
\nA new genetic method of tracking infection suggests that the superbug emerged five decades ago in Europe, just as antibiotics were being widely introduced for the first time.
\n
\nScientists used DNA-mapping technology to compare the genetic relatedness of bugs isolated from individual patients.
\n
\nee. Working backwards, the scientists established that the strain probably emerged in Europe in the 1960s.
\n
\n
\nThe finding lends support to the theory that the introduction of widespread antibiotic use in the 1960s may have spawned MRSA.
\n
\nNatural selection would have favoured resistant strains that could survive the antibiotic onslaught.
\nAnother discovery was that one MRSA outbreak in a London hospital intensive care unit was probably due to a bacterial strain imported from south-east Asia - possibly brought in by a single infected patient.
\nThe research is published in the journal Science.
\nDr Stephen Bentley, one of the Sanger Institute scientists, said: "Telling the difference between isolates within one species is fundamentally important in the development of public health strategies. It allows researchers and public health officials to see how infections are spread - from person-to-person, from hospital-to-hospital, from country-to-country."
\nThe success of the new technique relies on comparing whole genomes - or blueprints of the genetic code - rather than small sections of DNA.
\n
\nIt can equally be applied to other kinds of bacteria that present a public health menace, such as Clostridium difficile.
\n
\nDr Sharon Peacock, co-author from Cambridge University, said: "This new method has allowed us to gain insights into fundamental processes of evolution in S. aureus, one of the most important bacterial pathogens in healthcare in the world.
\n
\n"We are now able to discriminate between one strain and another, even where they are very closely related. Our research should inform global surveillance strategies to track the spread of MRSA.
\n
\n"The implications for public health are clear: this technology represents the potential to trace transmission pathways of MRSA more definitively so that interventions or treatments can be targeted with precision and according to need."
\n
\n
\nhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...rked-MRSA.html
\nTelegraphNews\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
\r\n
\r\nNatMedTalk and Beyond\r\n

\r\n <!-' + '- controls -' + '->\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <!-' + '- / controls -' + '->\r\n