MRSA eradication using chlorine dioxide

Abstract

Antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections currently claim at least 50,000 lives each year across Europe and the US alone, with many hundreds of thousands more dying in other areas of the world. In 15 European countries, more than 10% of bloodstream Staphylococcus aureus infections are caused by methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA), with several of these countries seeing resistance rates closer to 50%.1 Moreover, while the number of antibiotic-resistant infections is on the rise, the number of new antibiotics is declining.1,2 It is therefore imperative that new, novel treatments of AMR’s are sought, and this is the premise of this research – using natural substances to eradicate MRSA, that do not create further resistance. Chlorine dioxide used in vitro, has been our main focus of this research, as it was the most effective, compared to other natural substances tested.