Putting high throughput to work
One of the main goals in learning more about MRSA mutation and transmission patterns is to improve policies that might stop—or at least slow—the spread of this deadly infection. It will allow researchers to find breaks in the prevention chain, said Peacock, who added that, "we're not going to stop [it] by any amount of hand washing." Nor will this new analysis stop MRSA in its tracks, she noted, but "this tool will provide extra ammunition to identify routes of MRSA transmission."
The project, although it provided a new look into the dynamics of MRSA, was not designed to provide a comprehensive map or history of the infection. Rather, "this was a proof of principle," Harris explained. And as such, the researchers said they anticipated more advances in the field to follow soon.
Where it once took years to piece together bacterial genomes, full genomes can be sequenced "in a matter of weeks," Bentley noted. The technology used by these researchers allowed them to process 96 samples at once. A decade ago sequencing a genome for a mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis took three years and cost about $800,000. Today, sequencing these MRSA isolates took four to six weeks and cost about $300 each. Nevertheless, a $300 test is hardly practical for routine use, and as Bentley noted, the turnaround time is "still not a practical timescale for use in a health care setting." With both cost and processing time decreasing, however, the researchers said they expected the technology to become more widely available—and eventually integrated into basic hospital laboratories for rapid on-site testing.
In the meantime, such high-powered sequencing is already being put to use to study other microbial threats to human health. "This technology can be useful for any organism," Bentley said. Researchers are in the process of applying it to study the organisms at work in pneumonia, diarrhea, tuberculosis and meningitis.
But putting these new capabilities to work will not simply be a matter of scaling-up past or current projects, Bentley noted, adding: "It's going to require scientists to do some real innovative thinking to fully exploit this technology."
Subscription Center
Rights & Permissions
See what we're tweeting about
14 Comments
Add Commentwhy not program a bacteria to feed on the harmful strain while making sure it itself will not mutate and remain harmless. I know... sci-fi...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisexcellent article....now to just sequence the millions of others...and make use of it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps they could also use this to find a target unique to all strains of staph and then engineer a phage to exploit it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI acquired HA-MRSA after an operation. The damage to my inner abdominal lining is unbelievable and probably will be for the years to come. While at my hospital bed side my doctor has said that he himself had MRSA in the past. I not only believe patients but doctors and nurses themselves should be screened for MRSA before operating or being operated on. It's a horrible infection and I'm personally affended when I get a " Oh, it's so common, it's not a big deal " reply when I tell a doctors what I've been thru. Get a grip on something called reality doc's... it is a BIG deal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLuckily I had health insurance however I do not believe my insurance company or any insurance company as well as medicaid ie. the citizens of this country should be financially responsible for the recovery costs that are purely the hospitals fault. The hospitals themselves are to blame for recklessly endangering human lives without fully marginal efforts to stop it. America should insist on their liability.
http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/hospitaltreatment/treatment-abroad/mrsa-europe/
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.politics.ie/health-social-affairs/121500-norway-conquers-mrsa-irish-public-debate-still-misinformed.html
As someone who watched his father suffer and die from MRSA, VRE, and other HAIs, I completely understand the need to place blame for this outrageous and wholly preventable epidemic. Having said that, I think that we need to go beyond blame and focus on what can be done to stop the spread of these lethal bugs in all healthcare institutions. Clearly, healthcare leadership has for decades failed in this regard, despite being aware of the problem and possessing the tools to stop it. This new study adds yet more evidence to an already overwhelming body of science as to the reason for nosocomial spread of MRSA, VRE and other pathogens and what needs to be done to end the destruction. The only question that remains to be answered, in my opinion, is will we continue to be so corrupt and arrogant in insisting that more studies be done, more money allocated to research, and more incentives be given to drug companies to develop new antibiotics, or will we change the culture to focus on prevention by using the cost effective infection control methods that we know work and that have always been available. We have not just a right to ask this, we have an obligation to demand it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMichael Bennett
The Coalition For Patients' Rights.
Maybe i am just a tenth grader and yes i didn't even know about this MRSA thing until i read this article, but i am totally in favor of Michael Bennet: we must focus on what can be done to prevent it and not on fighting it, because we are becoming too dependent on others, we are always taking the easy and short way, when it only takes a simple, small, and collective effort of each one of us to make this world a better place. Think about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEdward Aguilera
Puerto Rico
Maybe i am just a tenth grader and yes i didn't even know about this MRSA thing until i read this article, but i am totally in favor of Michael Bennet: we must focus on what can be done to prevent it and not on fighting it, because we are becoming too dependent on others, we are always taking the easy and short way, when it only takes a simple, small, and collective effort of each one of us to make this world a better place. Think about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEdward Aguilera
Puerto Rico
Maybe i am just a tenth grader and yes i didn't even know about this MRSA thing until i read this article, but i am totally in favor of Michael Bennet: we must focus on what can be done to prevent it and not on fighting it, because we are becoming too dependent on others, we are always taking the easy and short way, when it only takes a simple, small, and collective effort of each one of us to make this world a better place. Think about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEdward Aguilera
Puerto Rico
You are one very impressive 10th grader. I look forward to one day seeing your name among the leaders who achieved great success in helping others. And I will be applauding you Edward Aguilera!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs someone who has been treating cases of MRSA and VRSA for many years, with near-complete success and without the use of antibiotics, I think it is diabolical to fund further research, when a solution already exists. If the corrupt politicians, decision makers and medical fundamentalists would focus upon peoples health before pharmaceutical profits and their own pocket-book, then perhaps those thousands of people who have died from MRSA and VRSA infections would still be alive today. It is not MRSA that kills most people, it's the organisations that are brainwashed into believing that only pharmaceutical companies can come up with the right answer. I fully agree with the comments of Michael Bennett. In the ever-changing pathogenic world of bacterium, where bacteria can form resistance faster than the pharmaceutical companies can devise new products, there is no sense in persuing this course of action. Do I believe that the product I use is effective? Most certainly. It has cut its teeth over the course of the last 5 years on even the most difficult of cases. We even succeeded where 30 days of intravenously administered Vancomycin failed, in a patient who had suffered with MRSA for nearly 4 years. Prevention? That is where they all get it wrong. The right way in prevention is to immunise the patient, as well as the surroundings. Treatment prior to admission would not only protect the patient, but build up the immune system and eradicate many other pathogenic bacterium before admission. Cleaner wards, pathogen-free patients, greater immune system function, would lead to better recovery times, no delays in operation schedules and more patients being treated. While this has made enormous sense to me, over the five years that I have run my MRSAmedical.com website, just who listens or cares? I have come to the conclusion that I can only help people on a one-to-one basis, as red-tape and corruption spoils the bigger picture. Yes, I have been there, experienced the slings and arrows and returned in disgust. Self-indulgence seems a greater priority than the lives of the masses. What a pitiful and disgusting world we live in. Thousands of people dying every year from MRSA because the pharmaceutical companies funds must be protected. MRSA killed more people in the USA last year than AIDS, along with over 1,000 pets. One of the latest responses from a patient contained information that her doctor had stated 'pets don't get MRSA.' My advice: Change your doctor!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe site was very informative and got good posts. It got lot of posts. The pharmaceutical industry was playing a major role as a key supporter of health care. Thanks for sharing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href= http://www.PetUrns.com >unique pet urns</a>
The site was very informative and got good posts. It got lot of posts. The pharmaceutical industry was playing a major role as a key supporter of health care. Thanks for sharing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href=”http://www.PetUrns.com”>unique pet urns</a>
Technology is not going to save us from these issues. In fact, technology is partly to blame, since that is what enabled us to continue with our bad habits far longer than we otherwise would have.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this