| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2004 | Volume
: 70
| Issue : 3 | Page : 186 |
Silver sulphadiazine for MRSA infections
Rustom Tehrani
Consultant Dermatologist, Mallya Hospital, Bangalore, India
Correspondence Address:
11 Plain Street, Shivajinagar, Bangalore - 560001, India
[email protected]
How to cite this article:
Tehrani R. Silver sulphadiazine for MRSA infections. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2004;70:186 |
Sir,
In response to the article on methisillin resistant Stophylococcus (MRSA),[1] no account will be complete without a mention of a medication which has been in use for the last 30 years, and which has saved more lives than all the other topical preparations put together - silver sulphadiazine cream. Although primarily used in burns, it has been used in herpes zoster and in toxic epidermolysis. It is useful in multi-drug resistant bacteria along the entire spectrum, from MRSA to Pseudomonas aerogenesa.[2]
As compared to mupirocin, silver sulphadiazine cream has the following advantages:
1. It is very inexpensive.
2. While mupirocin comes in a 10 gram tube, silver sulphadiazine is also available in a 1 kilogram jar.
3. Mupirocin is available in a greasy ointment base while silver sulphadiazine comes in a water washable base.
4. Silver sulphadiazine is used both for treatment and prevention.
A combination of silver sulphadiazine and chlorhexidine, available in several brand names in India is more potent than silver sulphadiazine alone.[3]
| References | |  |
| 1. | Sachdev D, Amladi S, Natraj G, Baveja S, Kharkar V, Mahajan S, et al. An outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in dermatology indoor patients. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2003;69:377-80.  |
| 2. | Wright JB, Lam K, Burrel RE Wound management in an era of increasing antibiotic resistance-a role for topical silver treatment. Am J Infec Control 1998;26:572-7. |
| 3. | Fraser JF, Bodman J, Sturgess R, Faoagali J, Kimble RM. An vitro study of the antimicrobial efficacy of a1% silver sulphadiazine and a 0.2% chlorhexidine cream and a silver coated dressing. Burns 2004;30:35-41. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
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