NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In patients with hayfever, a nasal ointment containing the antibiotic mupirocin caneliminate Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in the nose, but this doesnot improve symptoms, Israeli researchers report.

Earlier research has shown that the growth of S. aureus in thenasal passages may worsen allergic diseases, such as hay fever,senior investigator Dr. Eli Magen told Reuters Health.

To investigate further, Magen of Barzilai Medical Center,Ashkelon and colleagues studied 60 patients with hay fever and 55healthy comparison subjects.

Samples of the nasal passages growth in laboratory cultures werepositive for S. aureus in 23 (38 percent) of the patients, but only8 (15 percent) of the healthy subjects, the team reports in theAnnals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

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