Reports about antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria which can develop secondary to the overuse of antibiotics has people here in Syracuse always interested in natural manners in which to help prevent infections. Therefore an article in Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com, which is of interest here is titled "Cranberry Juice Shows Promise Blocking Staph Infections". In this article it is reported that researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have reported the finding from a small clinical study that cranberry juice cocktail blocked a strain of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from beginning the process of infection.
Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering at WPI has said "Most of our work with cranberry juice has been with E. coli and urinary tract infections, but we included Staphylococcus aureus in this study because it is a very serious health threat. This is early data, but the results are surprising."
The virulent form of E. coli which is studied by Camesano is the primary cause of most urinary tract infections. Strains of S. aureus are known to cause a range of "staph infections" from minor skin rashes to serious bloodstream infections. And one particular strain, known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a growing public health problem in hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions because it doesn't respond to most antibiotics.
In order to cause an infection, bacteria must first adhere to a host, then gather together in colonies to form a biofilm. In this study the urine samples from subjects who had recently consumed cranberry juice cocktail significantly reduced the ability of E. coli and S. aureus to form biofilms on the surface of dishes.
Camesano has commented "What was surprising is that Staphylococcus aureus showed the most significant results in this study. We saw essentially no biofilm in the staph samples, which is very surprising because Staph aureus is usually very good at forming biofilms. That's what makes it such a health problem."
Therefore in order to help prevent not just E-coli infections but also Staph infections people here in Syracuse should consume products which have cranberries in them. Wegmans supermarket , http://www.wegmans.com, always has good quality cranberry juice on sale. And you can buy cranberry concentrate supplement and cranberry apple fruit tea online at the HME Green Online Mall from Vitabase at http://www.hmmall.org.
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
