Business

Zapping the staph


27/ 2/2004

A MANCHESTER doctor is gunning for a super bug that has killed hundreds of hospital patients.
For years the bug, known as the 'staph' bacteria or MRSA, has been the scourge of hospital wards often attacking the young, the old and weak.
It is often resistant to anti-biotics. It can cause serious skin diseases especially around surgical wounds and pneumonia. Often it gets such a grip on its victim that they die.
But Manchester Royal Infirmary consultant physician Dr Rayaz Malik believes he has discovered a simple and cheap weapon to zap the 'staph' bacteria.
Weapon is the appropriate word because Dr Malik (pictured right treating a patient) has adapted a medical gun invented by ex-priest Jonathan Copus who used it to treat fungal infections.
Dr Malik found that the pen shaped device wiped out all traces of the lethal bug in nearly two-third of his patients.
He and other medics now plan to make a full-scale study to make sure the £1000 biogun really works.
The gun eradicated MRSA symptoms with just two hits in a test on 15 patients.
It works by shooting a stream of electrons to the infected areas. The electrons mimic the body's natural defences and creates oxygen oxide, the molecule that kills the bacteria.
Dr Malik said: "With patients with larger infections, the treatment can take longer but with smaller areas of infections, patients just need two treatments and they are cured.
"I visit the Manchester foot hospital where they have many diabetes patients who suffer from wounds in their feet and have developed MRSA.
"We have been using this treatment on them and found that most patients actually prefer this than taking daily doses of antibiotics.
"It is also a lot cheaper than drugs."


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