A new, more vicious MRSA strain threatens Britain

'Flesh-eating' MRSA strain threatens Britain

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Spread by contact among people, the bug can cause boils as large as tennis balls, blood poisoning or a necrotising condition which eats away at a person's lungs.

Resistant to most front-line antibiotic drugs, the new strain is a far more vicious form of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which is commonly found in hospitals.

It is copying the HIV virus by targeting mainly gay men in the US, but is also prevalent among injecting drug users and players of contact sports such as wrestling or American football.

Although only two cases of the lethal strain - which is a new form of a recently identified MRSA strain known as USA300 - have been recorded in the UK, experts fear it may only be a matter of time before it becomes established in Britain."

"Professor Mark Enright, from Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital, London, Britain's leading authority on MRSA, said: "It's quite surprising that the figures are so high. "The main reservoir for this infection is gay men, drug users, and those involved in contact sports, like wrestling. Having lots of sexual partners and making skin contact with a large number of different people helps the infection to spread.

"In the US it is already moving into the wider community, which is very worrying.""

You can boost your general resistance to infection by avoiding salt and salty food and eating plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables. See Sodium in foods and
Associated health conditions