Consider Adding Aspirin to Your Arsenal to Fight Staph Infection

You're on the lookout for MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections. You know it's important to keep an eye on even a small, innocuous-looking cut or sore on the skin for signs of infection and inflammation. You're good about keeping cuts clean and, when appropriate, covered. Here's one more step you can take to help keep an ordinary cut from becoming a potential threat to your health.

Aspirin can limit bacteria's toxicity

Yes, aspirin, a common, cheap drug found in most households can help your body clear even "superbugs"---bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. One of the most worrisome superbugs is staphylococcus aureus (also called S. aureus), which is what puts the "S" and the "A" in MRSA. S. Aureus is a primary cause of serious body-wide staph infections and skin abscesses.

Science Daily reported on a Dartmouth Medical School study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. According to the Dartmouth study, aspirin disrupts "the ability of S. Aureus to produce toxins, which the bacteria require to propagate and spread to other tissue." Fewer toxins equal fewer bacteria. Fewer bacteria equal fewer healthy cells becoming infected.

Aspirin does not cure the bacterial infection, nor does it reduce the scope of infection already present. What aspirin does do is keep the bad guys from multiplying and spreading as rapidly as they normally would. By limiting the ability of bacteria to multiply and spread, aspirin limits the ability of infection to go, literally, out of control.

Your body's immune system has a much better chance of clearing a contained infection, than of fighting a stream of invading bacteria that continues to grow larger and larger, and more and more virulent, over time.

Researchers found that aspirin may be "an invaluable treatment" even for sepsis. Sepsis is a form of blood poisoning that is a major cause of death for non-coronary disease Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients.

Aspirin and potential MRSA infections

WebMD sets out the signs and symptoms of a skin cut or sore that may be becoming infected. Any time a cut or sore---or even an area under the skin, without a break on the skin's surface---shows swelling, tenderness, warmth, redness or pain, it's certainly time to take proactive measures and keep a close eye on the area.

According to WebMD, streaks from the area indicate infection may be spreading. If the skin infection is accompanied by fever and chills, or those symptoms develop, serious illness may be developing. It's time to see a doctor.

What if you could avoid that outcome in the first place?

So long as there is no other reason you should not take aspirin, using aspirin early in the event of a cut or sore on the skin may help prevent visible infection by containing any bacteria trying to take hold. Dr. Ambrose Cheung, a researcher on the Dartmouth Medical School study and a professor of microbiology and immunology, states that "research shows that salicylic acid, a byproduct of aspirin, impacted the stress system of the bacteria and reduced its ability to cause infection."

Since aspirin is readily available, inexpensive and generally well-tolerated in adults, adding aspirin to your arsenal to fight early and limited staph infection---or potential staph infection---may be a reasonable step.

Aspirin and microbial keratitis related to wearing contact lenses

Contact lens wearers can suffer from infections called microbial keratitis. According to Aetna InteliHeath, keratitis is an inflammation of the outermost part of the eye, the cornea. Keratitis can occur as a complication of wearing contact lenses. There are many causes of keratitis, including fungal, amoebic and even sterile types.

Microbial keratitis can be caused by the bacteria pseudomonas aeruginosa (also called P. aeruginosa). Although this bacteria is not in the staph family of microbes, it is worth noting here that P. aeruginosa also is disrupted by aspirin. Find Health Articles published the abstract of a study in which researchers concluded that salicylic acid, a compound released when aspirin is broken down in the body, clearly decreased the potential for P. aeruginosa to cause corneal inflammation.

So, while researchers don't yet know the full extent of aspirin's ability to impact the spread and virulence of bacterial infections, there is evidence that aspirin is more than a "shot in the dark" when used to help fight bacterial infections, particularly early in the infection process.

Aspirin use by children

Any information on the use of aspirin must point out that aspirin should be given to children under age 18 only under strict supervision of a doctor. Medscape explains that aspirin use in children has a strong link to a potentially fatal condition called Reye's Syndrome. Reye's Syndrome generally occurs after a viral illness, such as influenza. Reye's, however, can occur with aspirin use by children at other times.

Science Daily reports recent research from the United Kingdom that shows that humans can produce their own aspirin-like compound, salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is the compound in aspirin that scientists think produces many of aspirin's beneficial effects.

Moreover, salicylic acid is found naturally in fruits and vegetables. In fact, researchers found that vegetarians had almost as much salicylic acid in their bloodstream as people on low-dose aspirin regimens!

This is another reason that Mom's advice to "eat your fruit and veggies" may be particularly important when a child needs to fend off a particular infection. A child who should not take aspirin can still up his dietary sources of naturally occurring aspirin-type compounds by increasing his intake of fruits and vegetables.

Use green tea as an infection-fighting booster

If you do need to take antibiotics to fight an infection, would you like to make those antibiotics as effective as possible? Incredibly, as reported on Science Daily, pharmacy researchers found that drinking green tea can make antibiotics up to three times more effective, even against superbugs.

Like aspirin, green tea is widely available and inexpensive. Green tea, like aspirin, also is well worth a try when faced with the need to take antibiotics to fight infection. For kids who may not like the taste of green tea, it is a beverage that can be cooled and easily mixed with juice for a refreshing and healthy immunity boost.

(On a personal note, my kids love green tea, with one bag of peppermint tea thrown in the pot, sweetened with honey, chilled, and then mixed with equal parts concord grape and black cherry juice, available from Welch's.)

* * * This article does not constitute and is not intended to provide any type of medical advice. Always consult your physician about medical conditions.

Sources:

"Protecting Yourself From Nasty Superbugs: Suggestions From Mayo Clinic," Science Daily.

"Aspirin Could Reduce The Risk Of Deadly Infections," Science Daily.

"Staph Infection," WebMD.

"Keratitis," Aetna Inteliheath.

"Salicylic acid reduces the production of several potential virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa associated with microbial keratitis," Find Health Articles.

"Reye's Syndrome," Medscape.

"New Evidence That Humans Make Aspirin's Active Principle -- Salicylic Acid," Science Daily.

"Green Tea Helps Beat Superbugs, Study Suggests," Science Daily.