Microneedles may offer better MRSA treatment

Associate professor Georgios Sotiriou and Ph.D. student Jill Ziesmer at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have developed a patch that is designed to provide a localized treatment for MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) skin infections by using microneedle arrays. With its resistance to some antibiotics, and limited drug delivery in the skin by traditional delivery routes, MRSA infections are a health care burden. For example, vancomycin cannot be given locally as a cream, because it cannot easily penetrate the skin. It can also not be given as an oral drug, because it is not absorbed in the digestive system. These potentially serious infections are usually treated by an antibiotic injection. However, injecting the medication sends it throughout the patient’s bloodstream, which can cause side effects. Testing will continue, followed by human clinical trials.