It is very difficult for people with cystic fibrosis to cough up this thick mucus, making it an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, including MRSA, and making these people more prone to chest infections. It is thought that MRSA can cause more damage than other bacteria which are not resistant to antibiotics. We wanted to identify research evidence to support the best way for treating MRSA infections and also to see if this would improve the lives of people with cystic fibrosis.
Search date
The evidence is current to: 04 September 2014.
Key results
Unfortunately, we could not find any trials which compared treating MRSA to not treating MRSA, or which compared one form of treatment to another. We are unable, therefore, to make any recommendations for its management at this point in time.
Authors' conclusions:
We did not identify any randomised trials which would allow us to make any evidence-based recommendations. Although the results of several non-randomised studies would suggest that, once isolated, the eradication of MRSA is possible; whether this has a significant impact on clinical outcome is still unclear. Further research is required to guide clinical decision making in the management of MRSA infection in cystic fibrosis.