We’re often worried about getting sick from germs we come into contact with, but some harmful microbes can already be inside our bodies.
A nasty one is a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. This bacteria can live on our skin and in certain parts of our body, like the stomach and vagina.
A really dangerous type of this bacteria can cause a serious illness called toxic shock syndrome (TSS). This sickness can cause fever, rash, and, if not treated, failure of multiple organs.
When TSS happens in the vagina, it can trigger a dangerous reaction from our body’s defense system.
Probiotics to the Rescue
Probiotics, which are good bacteria, might be able to help stop TSS before it gets started.
A study in the journal Microbiology Spectrum found that two types of bacteria, called Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, could stop the harmful bacteria from creating the substances that cause TSS.
This was found in experiments done in a lab. In addition, L. acidophilus was able to stop the growth of the bad bacteria.
When the two good bacteria are used together, they can both stop the growth of the harmful bacteria and prevent the body’s defense system from overreacting.
“It’s a two-for-one hit against S. aureus,” said microbiologist Patrick Schlievert, Ph.D., at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.
He pointed out that even if the harmful bacteria produce any toxins, the probiotics can still prevent the body from overreacting.
A Potential Game Changer
Dr. Schlievert suggested that adding these probiotics to tampons or other menstrual products could decrease the risk of TSS happening during menstruation.
This could help many people around the world. He said that about 20% of people over the age of 12 can’t make antibodies (proteins that fight off diseases) against TSS.
Dr. Schlievert has been studying TSS and how to prevent it for many years. In the early 1980s, he was the first scientist to find the toxin that causes the body’s defense system to overreact in TSS, and how high-absorbency tampons can make more of this toxin if the harmful bacteria are present.
A Surprising Discovery
Dr. Schlievert and his team were studying a new substance that could be added to tampons to stop harmful bacteria when they noticed something interesting.
Some of the women in the study had a big increase in the amount of Lactobacilli, another type of good bacteria, in their bodies. Further investigation showed that nine of these women had only one type of bacteria, L. crispatus, in their bodies.
Normally, having just one type of bacteria is considered unhealthy, but in this case, it helped fight the harmful S. aureus bacteria.
A Bright Future
Dr. Schlievert said that Lactobacillus bacteria have been shown to be safe, and the new study suggests that using L. crispatus by itself, or L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus together, could greatly lower the risk of TSS in people who are more likely to get it.
He also said that good bacteria might help stop harmful bacteria from making dangerous substances that cause other illnesses.
The team is now working on figuring out how to use probiotics to prevent skin infections caused by staph bacteria.
People with skin conditions or type 2 diabetes often have harmful staph bacteria on their skin, and these bacteria can cause sores that are hard to treat with normal antibiotics.
In people with diabetes, these sores could lead to needing a foot amputation if not treated successfully.
Dr. Schlievert is hopeful about the potential of probiotics. “If we can make people’s lives better using this approach, that would be wonderful.”
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was published in Microbiology Spectrum.
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