How coffee, tea fights MRSA

New research in the Annals of Family Medicine says these beverages have antimicrobial properties and drinking hot tea or coffee is associated with a lower risk of carrying MRSA bacteria within the nasal passages. Nearly 2.5 million people have evidence of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) inside their noses. In the study, people who drank hot tea were 50% less likely to have MRSA in their nose, compared with people who did not drink hot tea. The same held for people who drank coffee vs. those who didn’t.

MRSA often causes illness when it comes into contact with an open skin wound. People with weakened immune systems are at higher than average risk of having an MRSA-related illness. Hospital-acquired MRSA accounts for many fatal MRSA infections, and these bugs tend to be resistant to many antibiotics.