Drinking tea and coffee or reducing the risk of superbug MRSA infection

People who regularly drink tea or coffee may be less susceptible to the superbug MRSA.

ScienceNet, Beijing, July 18 / PRNewswire-Asianet /-- according to a recent study in the United States, people who regularly drink tea or coffee may be less susceptible to the superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacteria with strong toxicity in clinic. Staphylococcus aureus was greatly controlled after the advent of penicillin, but with the widespread use of penicillin, some Staphylococcus aureus produced penicillinase, which could hydrolyze β-lactam ring and showed strong drug resistance. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was found for the first time in Jevons in the United Kingdom. Since its discovery, MRSA has spread almost all over the world and has become one of the important pathogens of nosocomial infection.

According to foreign media reports, scientists analyzed a government survey involving more than 5500 Americans and found that those who regularly drank hot tea or coffee were about half as likely to carry MRSA bacteria in their noses as those who did not drink these drinks regularly, although scientists still do not know the exact cause of this situation.

Lead researcher Eric Eric Matheson of the University of South Carolina, who conducted the study, said the results show that hot tea and coffee can reduce the risk of MRSA in the nasal passage. in general, about 1% of Americans have MRSA on their nose or skin, but there is no case of it.

The idea of the study comes from the fact that topical application or inhalation of tea extracts can inhibit MRSA to some extent, whether in laboratory utensils or in human bodies. Some studies have shown that the compounds of tea and coffee have some degree of antibacterial activity. Overall, people who regularly drank tea or coffee were about 50 per cent less likely to carry MRSA in their nasal passages than those who did not. But at the same time, the researchers warn that the study does not prove that tea or coffee is the main reason for reducing risk.

"our findings provide a promising new way to fight MRSA and are safer, cheaper and easier than traditional methods," Eric said. " Of course, the problem now is that even if coffee and tea can reduce the risk of carrying germs, the mechanism is still unknown, so the team still does not encourage people to drink these drinks as a hope of fending off MRSA. (Daping)