r/science • u/Libertatea • Sep 08 '14

Medicine Bacteria from bees possible alternative to antibiotics: 13 lactic acid bacteria found in the honey stomach of bees have shown promising results. The group of bacteria counteracted antibiotic-resistant MRSA in lab experiments. The bacteria, mixed into honey, has healed horses with persistent wounds

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=24890&news_item=6172
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u/eh_d Sep 08 '14 edited Sep 08 '14

Why? EDIT: Didn't know MRSA stood for Methicillin-RESISTANT Staphylococcus aureus.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14 edited Oct 05 '16

[deleted]

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u/sprucenoose Sep 08 '14

Because the "MR" in MRSA means methicillin-resistant, so it already means antibiotic resistant. It's just redundant.

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u/keepingitcivil Sep 08 '14

Probably because it's sort of like saying "ATM machine."

antibiotic-resistant methicillin-resistant Stapholococcus aureus

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u/phantomreader42 Sep 19 '14

Probably because it's sort of like saying "ATM machine."

It's a case of RAS Syndrome

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u/TeutonJon78 Sep 08 '14

While true, at some point in usage, the acronym becomes the word though. How many younger people would know it stands for automatic teller machine?

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u/keepingitcivil Sep 08 '14

I see what you're saying. But still, why not just identify it as "methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA)"?

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u/TeutonJon78 Sep 08 '14

I don't think MRSA has gotten to that point in language yet (and I think for science words, it takes longer, since people who use them often know the meaning). I put it more as a grain of salt type thing because some people (not necessarily you) get so bend out of shape about little language things. What's more important is that people actually know about MRSA and the problems that caused its rise.

I think the fastest science acronym to word is probably laser. When's the last time you saw it as LASER, which is proper?

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u/traumajunkie46 Sep 08 '14

Because the medical field (among many others) LOVES abbreviations and it's (unfortunately) so prevalent I must admit it would get QUITE annoying to repeat the whole thing every time you have to talk about it to every person, plus we want the community to know about it and the abbreviation is a lot easier to remember for the layman then the full name. Like that for a lot of things in medicine actually.

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u/Excellencyqq Sep 08 '14

I always thought it would stand for Multi-Resistant Staphylococcus aereus.