Blue Light Could Be MRSA's Kryptonite

San Diego, Ca. ---- The most intriguing thing about Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureas, more commonly known as MRSA, is that it’s resistant to many antibiotics. Now, preliminary research suggests a type of blue light may actually help kill it.

In a study done by researchers at the New York Institute of Technology, scientists exposed two strains of MRSA to a wavelength of blue light in a process called photo-irradiation.

More than 90 percent of the bacteria were destroyed in the study.

One San Diego specialist is more than skeptical.  "I'm not surprised that they found that a wave length could kill some strains of bacteria,” said Gonzalo Ballon-Landa, M.D., Infectious Diseases Consultant with Scripps. “I don't think it's going to be the solution to the problem by any stretch of the imagination."

Using blue light may be helpful in the fight against the spread of MRSA, but it’s far from a cure, according to Ballon-Landa.

"If this technology is going to help in anything, it might perhaps reduce the transmission in certain particular situations," he said using operating rooms as an example.

The most critical cases of MRSA are usually those patients who didn’t seek treatment early enough, according to Ballon-Landa.

He cites hand washing as a key to preventing the spread of the bacteria.

Read more about the study at the New York Institute of Technology website.

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