well our school's football team were gonna play against ruether middle school but the principal said they couldnt. then some guy told me that this kid in ruether had this disease that eats his organs?? and then i'm like yeah....
then i read in this article in the newspaper that the kid has Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] and i just wanted to know:
what is that? and like what does it do. bc my friend wants to know whats wrong with the kid. so yeah.. Understanding MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
What is it?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's immune to some commonly used antibiotics.
The symptoms of MRSA depend on where you're infected. Most often, it causes mild infections on the skin, causing pimples or boils. But it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract.
Though most MRSA infections aren't serious, some can be life-threatening. Many public health experts are alarmed by the spread of tough strains of MRSA. Because it's hard to treat, MRSA is sometimes called a "super bug."
What causes it?
Garden-variety staph are common bacteria that can live on our bodies. Plenty of healthy people carry staph without being infected by it. In fact, 25-30% of us have staph bacteria in our noses.
But staph can be a problem if it manages to get into the body, often through a cut. Once there, it can cause an infection. Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections in the U.S. Usually, these are minor and don't need special treatment. Less often, staph can cause serious problems like infected wounds or pneumonia.
Staph can usually be treated with antibiotics. But over the decades, some strains of staph -- like MRSA -- have become resistant to antibiotics that once destroyed it. MRSA was first discovered in 1961. It's now immune to methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many other antibiotics.
While some antibiotics still work, MRSA is constantly adapting. Researchers developing new antibiotics are having a tough time keeping up.
Who gets MRSA?
MRSA is spread by contact. So you could get MRSA by touching another person who has it on the skin. Or you could get it by touching objects that have the bacteria on them. MRSA is carried, or "colonized," by about 1% of the population, although most of them aren't infected.
Infections are most common among people who have weak immune systems and are living in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care centers. Infections can appear around surgical wounds or invasive devices, like catheters or implanted feeding tubes. Rates of infection in hospitals, especially intensive care units, are rising throughout the world. In U.S. hospitals, MRSA causes up to 40%-50% of staph infections.
Community-Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)
But MRSA is also showing up in healthy people who have not been living in the hospital. This type of MRSA is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. The CDC reports that in 2003, 12% of people with MRSA infections had CA-MRSA.
Studies have shown that rates of CA-MRSA infection are growing fast. One study of children in south Texas found that cases of CA-MRSA had a 14-fold increase between 1999 and 2001.
CA-MRSA skin infections have been identified among certain populations that share close quarters or experience more skin-to-skin contact. Examples are team athletes, military recruits, and prisoners. However, more and more CA-MRSA infections are being seen in the general community as well, especially in certain geographic regions.
It's also infecting much younger people. In a study of Minnesotans published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the average age of people with MRSA in a hospital or healthcare facility was 68. But the average age of a person with CA-MRSA was only 23. You have on line so try going to a readers digest site, in one of their most recent issue they had a good write up about it. It is all over the news the last few weeks and now it is near my county.
Wife is an RN and she has told me that they have run across this all the time in the hospitals, it is most common among the older people and those that are in retirement homes or become a person who stay at home and inside all the time. It is very contagious and can cause death. In my home town they used to have a law on the books that forbid a person from spitting and it was once thought to be a be contributor to MRSA and i think it still is among other things, such as sharing eating utensils, drinking after another, washing hands, showering after any and all physical activities, wear shoe shoes in a dressing room. MRSA, or Methicillin-Resistant Staphyloccocus Aureus, is a 'superbug'. It has gained a notorious reputation as an extremely resistant bacteria against most antibiotics. This occurred largely due to the abuse in prescribing antibiotics and also non-compliance of patients taking antibiotics. In simple terms, the bug has mutated and became stronger/more resistant because it was not completely wiped out when we do not finish our course of antibiotics.
There are MRSA carriers among healthy individuals. It is usually found along our upper respiratory tract, mainly in the nasal cavity. This bacteria is transmitted mainly by touch. When it infects an already ill person, the bacteria can multiply rapidly and enter the bloodstream (septicaemia or 'blood infection'). Once this happens and if left untreated, that person may die of septicaemic shock and multple organ failure!
Lessons that we should all take note:
1) always complete your course of antibiotics prescribed by the doctor, even though we may already feel well after only a few days of taking them.
2) always maintain good personal (especially hand) hygiene when in contact with ill people.
3) doctors should not indiscriminately prescribe newer/stronger antibiotics when older ones are as effective in treating an ailment
Hope this answers your query :) Can someone give me some insight ? My pre-teen son has a knee infection and the Dr. says it is MRSA and gave me Keflex. After reading a little I called and told her Keflex does not work against MRSA and Bactrim does. She then said she ASSUMES it is MRSA but won't know 100% until the culture comes back in 4 days. I asked her then why dont you just put him on Bactrim to kill the worser of two evils. She called in the prescription for Bactrim; my question is: will Bactrim kill whatever the infection is (MRSA and Non-MRSA) and is this a good idea ? My thinking is that we should attack the potential worse virus first, we can alway knock out the lesser next week if the culture comes back negative or the Bactrim does not work !! I guess what I am saying is it sounds like Bactrim is better than Keflex, so why not just use the better medication if that one will work for any baccterial infection INCLUDING MRSA ?? Please Advise !! |
