MRSA and Other Resistant Bacteria

1. What exactly MRSA?
   MRSA is a bacteria. In fact the initials MRSA stand for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. It is a bacteria that people normally have on their skin. This form of the bacteria has become resistant to many antibiotics that were first used to treat infections. That is where the name comes from; Methicillin is a form of penicillin. This bacteria is resistant to this antibiotic and others so using certain antibiotics will not kill the infection caused by it, thus the name superbug.
    
2. How long has this bacteria been resistant?
   This bacteria started to become resistant to treatment with penicillin's in the 1960s. Resistance was first seen in the hospitals due to the treatment of patients that had serious infections due to Staphylococcus Aureus. When the infections were not going away and were cultured the resistance was found. At that time there were other antibiotics that would work well in the treatment of the bacteria and it really did not become a concern until the late 1980s. Now health care providers have come to recognize the importance of correctly identifying what bacteria is causing the infection and treating it with an antibiotic that will kill the bacteria.
    
3. Isn't this bacteria just something that patients in hospitals contract?
   For many years this was primarily a bacteria that happened to people if they had been a patient in the hospital. However this is changing. Currently the trend with this bacteria is a community acquired strain that is happening with people who have no risk factors such as being a patient in a hospital and being exposed to it in that manner. This community acquired strain of the bacteria is what most people have heard about in the news and has effected some young people who came down with an infection and when the bacteria was identified it turned out to be community acquired MRSA. Some of these people could not fight off the infection even with medical help and died from the infection.
    
4. Why is this bacteria affecting healthy young people?
   This resistant bacteria is affecting lots of different age groups but most of the news media has focused on young people. The community strain of this bacteria is a more virulent (it is more powerful at causing infection) form. People tend to get sicker when an infection occurs and the bacteria is very good at causing re-infection as it sometimes is not completed wiped out even though the infection site will heal. The bacteria will go to deeper in the body and reoccur at another site.
    
5. What are some of the symptoms of these infections?
   Most of the time these types of infections erupt on the skin of a person's body. Especially in the folds of the skin where there are warm, dark and moist conditions. I hear so many stories from people who contact me about MRSA; that they had this place on their skin and they thought it was a spider bite. It kept getting worse and worse so they went to the doctor for treatment and it wasn't a spider bite but MRSA.
    
6. What should people know if they develop one of these infections?
   The important thing to remember regarding this type of infection is that if you develop a sore on your skin even if it looks pimple like don't squeeze it or try and pop it. That will just push any infection deeper into the body. Definitely don't try to lance it or cut it open. Leave it alone, if it doesn't get better and increases in size go see you doctor for medical treatment of the skin lesion.
    
7. Does MRSA affect other areas of the body besides skin?
   Yes it can affect many other body systems; for example the lungs, it can sometimes cause pneumonia in certain people. But most of the time with the community acquired strain it is a skin infection.
    
8. What can people do to help prevent contracting MRSA?
   There are several things people can do in general to prevent transfer of MRSA from others people and surfaces where the bacteria live. The easiest is washing their hands frequently. The second is in public places like the grocery store, if you are going to be using things others have handled try and clean the item where others have touched so you don't pick up the other persons bacteria. A great example of this is the use of sanitizer wipes to clean the handles of grocery carts. If you cannot do this then wash your hands as soon as you are able and avoid touching your face.
    
9. If you have MRSA what can you do to prevent others getting it?
   Be especially careful to keep any infection site you might have covered, this contains the bacteria better. Also make sure that you wash your hands frequently to prevent spreading the bacteria to surfaces that other people touch, this is an infection that is spread mainly through people's hands. So washing your hands frequently breaks this transmission route. At home make sure that you clean the common surfaces of your home frequently, at least once a week while you have the infection. So cleaning door knobs, telephones, TV remotes things like that help to remove the bacteria. You can buy bacterial wipes at the store to do this or use a spray type cleaner as long as it says disinfectant on the label it will kill the bacteria. A lot of people like to use bleach wipes and these are fine just be careful with them around fabrics as they will take the color out. I also want to stress to people not to share any personnel items with another. I hear all the time about kids in school that play sports and share towels and water bottles. This is a very easy way to spread any bacteria from one person to another and should not be done.
    
10. What would you like people to remember about MRSA? 

• Even though this bacteria has been called a superbug is a very treatable bacteria.
• There is a community acquired form of this bacteria and you can get this type of infection even if you are young, healthy and never had treatment in a hospital.
• That frequent hand washing is the best way to break transmission & prevent getting an infection with this bacteria.
• Clean public surfaces that you come in contact with if at all possible. If not possible wash your hands as soon as you can. Avoid touching your face if this happens.
• Never share any personal items others have used, such as drinking cups.
• If you develop a sore on your skin or even something that looks like a bite or pimple do not try and treat this yourself by squeezing, popping or cutting the infection out, leave it alone. If the sore does not get better and increases in size see your health care provider for treatment.