Increasing Clostridium difficile infections due to genetic changes rather than dirty hospitals

[steven johnson]

Clostridium difficile is considered a 'superbug' that causes an estimated 35,000 C. difficile infections occur per year in American hospitals with 15,000 to 20,000 killed annually. C. difficile often survives the initial antibiotic treatment and the patients can pass the bacterium’s spores into the environment around them long after they are symptom free.

Alcohol hand treatments won't kill the C. diff. spores and bleach is required to disinfect surfaces that are contaminated. Thorough hand washing is critical.

Superbugs like C. diff. and MRSA will be increasingly dangerous to the aging population with decreasing immune function.

The rise in Clostridium difficile infections in recent years is due to genetic changes rather than dirty hospitals, say UK researchers.

Analysis of the full genome of the "hyper-virulent" strains and an older strain showed the bacteria have acquired genes which enable them to survive better in the environment, spread more easily and make patients more severely ill.

In all, five different genetic regions appear to have accumulated in the bacteria in past couple of decades, the team reported in Genome Biology.

"The bugs are fighting back and the one clear thing that comes out of this study is it is not down to cleaning but that the strain has evolved with new chunks of DNA. "

C. diff rise due to 'gene switch'

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. ....

http://www.vaclib.org/news/anthanti.htm More at link.



Oil pressed from oregano leaves that contain the active ingredient carvacrol may be an effective treatment against sometimes drug-resistant bacterial infection. Georgetown University researchers have found that oil of oregano appears to reduce infection "as effectively as traditional antibiotics."
Oil of oregano at relatively low doses was found to be efficacious against Staphylococcus bacteria and was comparable in its germ-killing properties to antibiotic drugs such as streptomycin, pencillin and vancomycin.
The findings were presented by Harry G. Preuss, MD, professor of physicology and biophysics, Georgetown University, at the American College of Nutrition'a annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. The oregano oil was obtained from North American Herb and Spice Company, a Waukeegan, Illinois company that sponsored the study and markets their non-prescription products in retail stores un the trade names Oregamax and Oregacyn.

Earlier this year researchers at the Department of Food Science at the University of Tennessee reported that, among various plant oils, oil of oregano exhibited the greatest antibacterial action against common pathogenic germs such as Staph, E. coli and Listeria. Last year British researchers reported oregano oil had antibacterial activity against 25 different bacteria. A clinical study in Italy has shown that oil of oregano can be used to treat intestinal parasites. The body of positive evidence for oregano oil as a major antibiotic is growing. Among 52 plant oils tested, oregano was considered to have "pharmacologic" action against common bugs such as Candida albicans (yeast), E. coli, Salmonella enterica and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pseudomonas is a type of germ that is getting more difficult to treat as it has developed strains that are resistant against antibiotic drugs.

ON EDIT TO ADD:

Subject: Oil of Oregano Rivals Modern Antibiotic Drugs
http://www.vaclib.org/news/anthanti.htm

Antimicrobial agents from plants: antibacterial activity of plant volatile oils
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2672.2000.00969.x/abs/

Ingredients To Raise the Microbial Bar
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1999/0499ap.html

Bacterial Infections
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcls-txt/t-prtcl-018.html

Antibacterial efficiency of Finnish spice essential oils against pathogenic and spoilage bacteria.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14717375&dopt=Abstract

ANTIMICROBIAL EFFECTS OF SPICES AND HERBS
http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Spices.html

Effects of an Oregano-oil-supplement as feed additive on the intestinal flora of weaned piglets.
http://elib.tiho-hannover.de/dissertations/goesslingas_2001.html

mechanism of bactericidal action of oregano and clove essential oils and of their phenolic major components on Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, The....
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4091/is_200307/
ai_n9287912
(oregano oil damages bacterial cell walls)

Impedance measurements to study the antimicrobial activity of essential oils from Lamiaceae and Compositae.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11518428&dopt=Abstract

Bacterial infection
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-018a.shtml#ore

Origanum vulgare
http://www.herbmed.org/viewherb.asp?varHerb_ID=56

Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial and In Vitro Antioxidant Properties of Monarda citriodora var. citriodora, Myristica fragrans, Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum, Pelargonium sp. and Thymus zygis Oils
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4091/is_200403/
ai_n9367972

Strains and toxins of Clostridium
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/3/312-b
(Reduced gastric acidity is a known risk factor)

[juno jones]

8. Also Check out Four Theives oil,

also known as theives's oil.

Oregano having these properties doesn't surprise me. Lemon Balm (of the same mint famly) also has some aniseptic and anti-viral activity. I think thyme does too.

A great place to shop for oils for quality and price: http://essentialoils.org/

[midnight]

11. This is so great to see all these links in one place.

It is interesting that in the 80's when Candida albicans was starting to enter the medical discussion some doc's said it wasn't a really disease/bug.

[elleng]

2. The bugs are fighting back !!!

[wuvuj]

6. A high % of cells in your body...

..are bacteria.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603085914.htm

"The number of bacteria living within the body of the average healthy adult human are estimated to outnumber human cells 10 to 1."

Humans are just plain SHIT OUT OF LUCK! :patriot:

[elleng]

7. I view it all as part of the evolutionary process.

Your 'shit out of luck' may just be our inevitable future. OK with me.

[stray cat]

3. Even more reason to wash your hands well if you are in the medical field to prevent spread

[Avalux]

4. Bacteria were on this planet long before humans and will remain once we're gone.

We are behind the curve in developing effective medications for bacterial pathogens; they are outsmarting the ones we have and soon, the gold standards antibiotics will be ineffective.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. I am dealing with C. Diff right now and let me tell you...

It ain't fun.
I just finished the antibiotic (flagyl) they gave me to deal with the second round I have had with it. I hope this time I am through.

[Why Syzygy]

9. GMOs

Genetically modified seeds/foods are passing some of their genes to these super bugs.

[trotsky]

10. Totally unsupported claim.

You expect people to just believe whatever you spout with no evidence whatsoever, don't you?