MRSA infection, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a type of staph infection that is particularly resistant to conventional antibiotics, making it extremely difficult to treat and mitigate. Typically, this infection spreads in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and at-risk populations include those with weak immune systems, young children and the elderly, the homeless, prisoners, and anyone in crowded, low-pressure areas. hygienic. MRSA is diagnosed through analysis of body fluids in a laboratory, however these tests typically serve as confirmation of a doctor's suspicion of the disease based on the patient's symptoms. Signs of MRSA begin with small bumps or boils that develop into deep abscesses that harbor bacteria and require surgical drainage. These can “burrow” deeper into the body and infect the bones, bloodstream, lungs and other vital organs. MRSA develops rapidly, often within 24 to 48 hours, giving doctors little time to act on treatment. Doctors will try a conglomerate of antibiotics for MRSA staph infections, mixing and matching certain medications to try to kill the bacteria, however in many cases the MRSA bacteria will evolve and become resistant to each medicine until doctors run out of antibiotics. options. The most widely used antibiotics against staph are cephalexin and vancomycin, but due to their wide applications, bacteria that are not inherently resistant are evolving and becoming stronger at fighting them. This problem intensifies when patients stop using antibiotics too soon, or if the antibiotics do not kill all the bacteria, giving the remaining population time to develop the ability to overwhelm the medicine and develop an even more serious infection. .. .. middle of paper...... survival rate in mice treated with traditional vaccines. Since toxins normally attach to red blood cells to be distributed throughout the body, the development of these nanosponges reduces the amount of toxins circulating through the body and dramatically increases the chances of survival. After retaining and blocking the toxin, the microscopic 85-nanometer sponges are eliminated from the body through the liver in about two weeks (Phys.Org). In addition to treating just MRSA, nanosponge technology could be applied to other toxin-producing viruses such as E. coli, or used in situations such as removing snake venom from the body. The possibilities are endless for this scientific advancement, Zhang perhaps hopes to one day program sponges to stop several toxins at once, answering the call for vaccinations of countless illnesses and diseases..