An article published in November of 2013 in the journal, Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, documented that using blue light therapy at both 405 and 470 nm was effective in vivo to treat skin infections in rats infected with MRSA.
More than two billion people now carry some strain of staphlococcus aureus, and 53 million now carry MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus), and this accounts for about 20,000 deaths in the US every year. Overall, there are about 100,000 deaths annually in the US from antibiotic resistant microbes such as C. diff, klebsiella, E. coli, etc. MRSA accounts for 44% of all hospital associated infections in the US. Approximately 5% of people who go into the hospital without an infection come out of the hospital with a hospital acquired infection.
There are now at least four alternative approaches to treat antibiotic resistant infections and they include: hyperbaric oxygen, photodynamic therapy, antibacterial clays, and blue light phototherapy. Each of these modalities are briefly reviewed.
