Could Preventing or Treating a MRSA Infection Be As Easy as One, Two, Tea?

A recent research study, printed in the Annals of Family Medicine, indicated that hot tea or coffee may have antimicrobial (anti-germ) properties. It was also found that people who drank hot tea or hot coffee had a lower risk of carrying the MRSA bacteria within their nasal passages or nose.

It is estimated that over 2.5 million people or patients carry MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in their nose, including doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers that are treating patients. In this most recent study, people who drank hot tea were 50% less likely to test positive for MRSA in their nose. The same was also true for hot coffee lovers. The more hot coffee or hot tea that was consumed, the lower the risk for MRSA. However, iced tea or iced coffee did not yield the same positive results. Iced beverages had no significant effect on nasal MRSA.

A MRSA infection is a patient’s worse nightmare…and it should be. It is what has been named a “super-bug”. In other words, almost all the antibiotics out on the market or prescribed today will not treat or cure it. The MRSA infection can then lead to serious infections, abscesses, pneumonias, amputations, sepsis, septic shock, and even death. It is believed that hot tea and hot coffee may have certain compounds that have antimicrobial properties that weaken and destabilize the super-bug.

Now, this is just one study, but it does raise some thoughts. In the past decade or so, we were told to decrease our caffeine intake because it may not be good for us. In the past decade or so, the MRSA infection took over. I know years ago when I worked in a hospital, the nurses, doctors and patients had real hot coffee or tea with their meals. None of the decaf stuff with artificial sweeteners. I do not remember any super-bugs back then. Going back even further, as a child of Irish parents, hot tea with a shot of whiskey, fresh lemon and some honey always seemed to sweat my germs away and I felt better the next day.

Does this mean that instead of doing wet-to-dry betadine dressings we should be doing wet-to-dry tea dressings? Instead of ordering Vancomycin 1 gram intravenously (IV) every 12 hours, the doctors should be ordering a cup of java every 12 hours? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, thousands of patients continue to suffer or die from MRSA infections. The MRSA bug can be on your nurse, doctor or other healthcare provider waiting to jump onto you. The MRSA bug has been found under nurses fake or acrylic nails, on doctor’s ties, on stethoscopes or in their nasal cavities. It only takes one sneeze or one touch to transport the MRSA bacteria from them to you.

Here at the nationally known Beasley medical malpractice law firm, we have physicians and nurses on staff that have actually worked in hospital settings and are very familiar with how infections or bacteria can be transmitted from one patient to the next. Our experienced medical and legal teams have had billions awarded on behalf of our injured or infected clients. Please feel free to call us to talk to one of our experienced nurses or doctors for a risk free and strictly confidential consultation. We are the law firm that many doctors and nurses turn to if they or a family member was a victim of medical malpractice.