MRSA infection

Description

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is caused by a type of bacteria that become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections.

The majority of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections occur in people who have been in hospitals or other healthcare facilities, such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. When it occurs in these situations, it's known as health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) are generally associated with invasive procedures or devices, such as surgeries, intravenous tubing or artificial joints. HA-MRSA can be spread by health care workers to touch people with dirty hands or people touching unclean surfaces.

Another type of MRSA infection has occurred in the community — among healthy people. This form, community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), often begins as a painful skin boil. It's usually spread by skin to skin contact. At-risk populations include groups such as high school wrestlers, child care workers and people living in overcrowded conditions.

Symptoms

Staph skin infections, including MRSA , generally start as swollen, painful red bumps that may look like pimples or spider bites. The affected area may be:

  • Hot to the touch
  • Full of pus or other drainage
  • Accompanied by a fever

These red bumps can quickly turn into deep, painful boils (abscesses) that require surgical drainage. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.

When to see a doctor

Keep an eye on the problems of the skin — acne, insect bites and stings, cuts and scratches — especially in children. If the wounds seem to be infected or is accompanied by fever, consult your doctor.

Causes

Different varieties of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly called "staph," are there. Staphylococci are bacteria that are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. The bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even so are usually minor skin problems in healthy people.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5% of the population chronically leads to the type of staph bacteria known as MRSA .

Antibiotic resistance

MRSA is the result of decades of often unnecessary antibiotic use. For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu, and other viral infections that do not respond to these drugs. Even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they contribute to the increase of drug-resistant bacteria because they don't destroy every germ they target. The bacteria live in a rapid evolution of the track, so germs that survive treatment with one antibiotic soon learn to resist others.

Risk factors

Because the hospital and community strains of MRSA usually occur in different contexts, the risk factors for the two different strains.

Risk factors for HA-MRSA

  • To be hospitalized. MRSA remains a concern in hospitals, where it can attack the most vulnerable, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
  • Have a medical device-invasive. Tube — medical care such as intravenous lines or urinary catheters — you may provide a pathway for MRSA to travel inside his body.
  • Residing in a long-term care facility. MRSA is prevalent in nursing homes. Carriers of MRSA have the ability to spread, even if they are not sick.

Risk factors for CA-MRSA

  • Participate in contact sports. MRSA can spread easily through cuts and abrasions on the skin, and skin-to-skin.
  • Who live in unsanitary conditions or overcrowding. MRSA outbreaks have occurred in military training camps, child care centers, and prisons.
  • Men who have sex with men. Men who have sex with men are at a higher risk of developing MRSA infections.
  • Having HIV infection. People with HIV have a higher risk of developing MRSA infections.
  • The illicit use of drugs that are injected. Individuals who use illicit injected drugs are at an increased risk of MRSA infections.

Complications

MRSA infections can resist the effects of many common antibiotics, so they are more difficult to treat. This may allow the infection to spread and sometimes become life-threatening.

MRSA infections can affect:

  • Bloodstream
  • The lungs
  • Heart
  • Bones
  • Joints

Prevention

The prevention of the HA-MRSA

In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA are often placed in isolation as a measure to prevent the spread of MRSA . Visitors and health care workers care for people in isolation may need to wear protective clothing.

They must also follow a strict hand hygiene procedures. For example, the healthcare workers can help prevent the HA-MRSA by washing hands with soap and water or a hand sanitizer before and after each clinical appointment.

The Hospital rooms, surfaces and equipment, as well as garments, must be properly disinfected and cleaned regularly.

The prevention of CA-MRSA

  • Wash your hands. Careful hand washing remains the best defense against germs. Rub hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, sometimes, if you don't have access to soap and water.
  • Keep wounds covered. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with clean, dry bandages until they heal. The pus from infected sores may contain MRSA , and keeping wounds covered can help prevent the spread of bacteria.
  • Keep personal items personal. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment. MRSA spreads on the infected objects, as well as through direct contact.
  • Shower after athletic games or practices. Shower immediately after each game or practice. Use soap and water. Do not share towels.
  • Disinfect the clothing of bed. If you have a cut or sore, wash towels and bed linens in a washing machine set in very hot water (with added bleach, if possible) and dry them in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each use.

MRSA infection

Diagnosis

Doctors diagnose methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by checking a tissue sample or nasal secretions for signs of drug-resistant bacteria. The sample is sent to a laboratory where it is placed in a dish of nutrients that encourage the growth of bacteria.

But because it takes about 48 hours for the bacteria to grow, newer tests that can detect staph DNA in a matter of hours are now becoming more widely available.

Treatment

Both health care-associated and community-associated strains of responding to certain antibiotics.

Doctors may need to perform emergency surgery to drain large boils (abscesses), in addition to the antibiotics.

In some cases, antibiotics may not be required. For example, doctors may drain a small, shallow boil (abscess) caused by more than treat the infection with drugs.

Preparing for your appointment

While you may initially consult your family doctor, he or she may refer you to a specialist, depending on which organs are affected by the infection. For example, he or she may refer you to a physician trained in skin conditions (dermatologist) or a doctor trained in heart disease (cardiologist).

What you can do

Before your appointment, you might want to write a list that includes:

  • Detailed descriptions of its symptoms
  • The information about the medical problems that you have had
  • Information about the health problems of your parents or siblings
  • All of the medications and supplements you take
  • Questions you want to ask the doctor

What to expect from your doctor

During the physical exam, your doctor will closely examine any skin cuts that you may have. He or she may take a sample of tissue or fluid from the courts to the test.

Symptoms and treatment of MRSA infection