Antibiotics used to treat drug-resistant “superbug” MRSA infections may actually make patients sicker, according to new research published by Cedars-Sinai scientists.

The findings, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, could have implications for managing the bug, a virulent form of the common staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which recently struck New York Giants tight end Daniel Fells.

MRSA is common in healthcare settings and sports clubs, but can be spread whenever the bacteria enter the body through a cut, sore, catheter, or other means.

MRSA causes more than 80,000 invasive infections and 11,000 related deaths per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is one of the biggest antibiotic-resistant pathogens in the US," said Dr. George Liu, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Children's Health Center and the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute.

The new research by Dr. Liu and colleagues is based on laboratory studies of mice that found rodents treated with antibiotics similar to methicillin, called beta lactams, caused the MRSA bacteria to build cell walls that are highly inflammatory and damaging to tissues.

In other words, the mice became sicker. The reserachers said their study findings in mice raise the possibility that prescribing certain antibiotics to treat infections in humans may worsen the infection, should the source prove to be MRSA.

"Based on this research, clinical studies are warranted," said study author Sabrina Mueller. "However, pending the outcome of those studies, physicians should follow current national guidelines set by the Infectious Diseases Society of America for antimicrobial treatment of staph infections."

Added Liu: "There is much work ahead of us before we can make a firm recommendation about the advantages or disadvantages of treatment with beta-lactam antibiotics." Liu said.