Below is information on S. Aureus that I gathered from various articles on the Internet (main source - Staphylococcus aureus by Brenner, Fletcher and Osborne - April 2004, New Zealand). I made a huge mistake when I first saw the infection on my ankle. Thinking that all pathogens are anerobic, I sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Killed it back the first several times, and then about the 4th time it grew and spread rapidly, tripling in size in a couple of days and getting under my skin, which is making it a lot tougher to get at with topical applications. Had I known points 1 and 2 below I would not have made this mistake.

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S. AUREUS CHARACTERISTICS (compiled from various Internet sources)

1. Facultative anerobe - can produce energy by two different methabolic tracts; fermentation and aspiration. It is 19 times more efficient at producing energy in the aspiration mode. Under anerobic conditions it resorts to fermentation. Much less ATP is produced from glucose during glycolysis, so the cell tries to compensate by "eating" glucose faster, but the amount of ATP produced is much smaller (2 moles by fermentation versus 38 moles by aspiration). This shift from slow aerobic to rapid anerobic consumption of glucose was first noted by Pasteur, so it is called the Pasteur Shift. It happens anytime oxygen is not present.

2. Catalase - a protein molecule made by S. aureus that breaks H2O2 down to water and oxygen. One molecule of this protein can decompose millions of molecules of H2O2 per second. (Note - I recall from other readings that the immune system uses H2O2 to kill bacteria, and I am reminded that a lot of our efforts at disease control involve getting oxygen to the pathogen.)

Permission granted - by Biomaster 3. Temp - Min. 43 deg F and max 115 deg. F for growth. Survives a much broader range.

4. ph - min 4.0, max. 9.8, optimum 6 - 7.

5. Sunlight - no apparent effect.

6. Max. salt - 7% to 10%, but up to 20%.

7. Atmospheris conditions have an effect on S. aureus, but no information given further.

8. Carbon source - similar comment to 7 above.

9. Nitrogen source - similar comment to 7.

10. Minimum water activity = 0.83.

11. Gram - positive (retains crystal violet dye in Gram stain process)

12. A thick cell wall. One membrane (Gram - negative bacteria have 4 membranes)

13. Coagulese - an enzyme produced by S. aureus that converts fibrinogen to fibrin. Fibrin coating of the bacteria make it resistant to phagocytosis (one weapon by which the immune system kills bacteria), making the bacteria more virulent.

14. Chlorine, other halogens and quaternary ammonium destroys S. aureus on surfaces, but cells that recover are more resistant.

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Treatments I have tried:

1. Bactroban (works well on surface, doesn't seem able to get to the bacteria down deeper.)

2. Bactim DS (maybe it is working, somewhat, after 3 weeks)

3. Essential Oils of Tea Tree, Clove and Oregano, which are purported to have strong anti-bacterial properties. Maybe killed the staph, but they were apparently too strong for my flesh and caused a lot of swelling and redness, etc. a day later.

4. Manuka Oil from New Zealand. The Manuka Honey is also used for staph infections. I have not tried the honey yet, but probably will. I read that honey has a ph of 3 - 4, and that the Manuka Honey has a special antibacterial property called UMF not found in other honeys. But also I read that honey has H2O2 in it. I am pondering this.

5. Ioniized water, also called Electrolized Water - when water is ionized by passing electricity thru it two streams of water come out of the machine; acidic water that is oxygenating and alkaline water that is an anti-oxident. People use the acid water for skin diseases and drink the alkaline water. Doctors at Kyowa Hospital in Japan are using the water extensively with great results. There is a 5-part series on YouTube. Search for The Healing Properties of Electrolized Water or for Diabetes and Electrolyzed Water. Also see Alkaline Water and Colon Health on YouTube. I read that doctors at Kyowa Hospital and Ashaki Hospital have cured 22,000 cases of what they called eczema. I do not know if that included staph. I bought a KYK machine last week. Since I have hard water here in Las Vegas I will have to install a filter to take most minerals out in order to get the acid water down below ph 4. In my case, the acid water (I am getting ph of around 5+) seems to be helping, especially with staph that did not penetrate the skin.

6. Colloidal Silver (internal and topical)

7. Various supplements; herbs, digestive enzymes, intestinal flora support, etc. I want to know more about the habits, likes/dislikes, etc. of S. aureus so that I can make its life miserable. I want to find its weaknesses and especially identify areas where I can exceed its tolerances without doing damage to my flesh. The acid ionized water looks like a good candidate to me, based on the Japanese experience.

Vern

PS - the first Derm I went to dismissed my two requests to take a culture (a doctor friend of a friend said "Maybe he doesn't want to name it". Yup, that fit his actions.) He said he "cannot cure, but he can control". The second Derm said "We assume 75% of these cases are MRSA", but did not seem interested in doing a culture either. They provide bare minimum information. They seem to discourage self-help participation by patients. They push steroids, which i understand reduce inflamation but do not kill bacteria and can leave one more susceptible to later infection. The more I learn about MRSA (especially how versatile it is) the more I see why it is becoming an epidemic. The US medical community seems to prefer to ignore it as much as possible. The medications they prescribe can cause dangerous side effects and must be taken for long periods when the staph gets under the skin. Learning how to avoid/minimize the side effects is worth a website all of its own. It looks like one must take measures beyond the treatments offered by the medical community in order to beat MRSA. The medical community disregards anecdotal information - they trust controlled clinical studies only. We MRSA sufferers cannot afford to wait the years it will take to do studies of various alternative treatments if the standard treatments fail us. Our main source of information is anecdotal - people doing their own research and sharing the results of their experiences. I am thankful the Internet exists, and I am thankful that people like you are putting effort into creating a place where we can share knowledge.

[Permission granted for use of high resolution MRSA photography, by Biomaster.]