This tough bacteria known as MRSA is often called a super bug because it’s so hard to treat
Name
MRSA aka methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (pronounced mur-sah)
Transmission
- Staph are common bacteria that live on our skin, in our noses, and in our throats, but MRSA is caused by a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to several antibiotics
- 1 in 3 people carry harmless staph bacteria
- But 2 in 100 people carry the dangerous MRSA bacteria which can cause serious problems if it enters the body
- MRSA spreads from person to person through touch and direct contact such as:
- Contact with an infected wound
- Sharing personal items like towels, clothes or razors that have touched infected skin
- Touching an infected surface such as a door handle
- It spreads fast in places with high contact so athletes, students, military personnel, prisoners, nursing home residents, and patients on admission are especially at risk
Geography
Worldwide
Incubation Period
1 – 10 days
Signs and Symptoms
MRSA most often causes skin infections that appear as sores, boils, and bumps. Symptoms include:
- Fever
- Red skin
- Swollen skin
- Painful skin
- A bump on the skin that is warm when you touch it
- An injury that is full of pus or other liquid
Sometimes the bacteria can spread into the body and cause:
- Swelling and tenderness in the affected body part
- Fever
- Confusion
- Cough
- Headache
- Shortness of breath
Diagnosis
Laboratory testing of tissue samples or nose secretions to find drug-resistant bacteria
Treatment
- MRSA is resistant to methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many other common antibiotics
- Some antibiotics still work to treat it, but the bacteria is constantly evolving and adapting, making it hard for researchers developing new antibiotics to keep up
- For more serious infections, treatment can include a combination of antibiotic injections that could last several weeks
Prognosis
- When treated early, mild to moderate skin infections usually heal well
- Without treatment, the infection can become severe and cause more serious skin infections or infect other parts of the body such as the urinary tract and bones
- The prognosis of these invasive infections depends on the severity of the infection and patient’s health status
- Sometimes it can cause pneumonia
- It can also lead to blood poisoning called sepsis (a life-threatening reaction to severe infection in the body)
Prevention: What Can You Do?
- Maintain good hand and body hygiene
- Wash your hands and clean your body often
- Keep cuts, scrapes, and wounds clean and covered until they have healed
- Avoid sharing personal items such as towels and razors
MRSA In the News
- ‘Noxious Weed’ May Provide New Way to Fight Superbugs‘Noxious Weed’ May Provide New Way to Fight Superbugs
- Six intensive care babies infected in superbug outbreak
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/MRSA/Pages/Introduction.aspx
