Soap, suds and MRSA

Link: Bradenton Herald

  Helping my Mom recover from a serious staph infection has made me obsessive about washing my hands. The health beat has also made me aware of others' health habits, or lack thereof, as demonstrated by the lady in the fancy clothes. She shouldered her leather handbag and booked out the door without a drop of water touching her hands. Her behavior reminded me of that TV commercial that shows a young woman fastening her seat belt, locking her car, dead-bolting her front door and fixing a healthy organic meal only to light up a cigarette after she finishes off her sprouts and tofu.

Washing hands is not kids' stuff - not in the era of bird flu and MRSA, which stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a common pathogen that infects wounds and prevents them from healing. Once entrenched, MRSA can be extremely difficult to treat. If it gets into the blood stream, it can be lethal. Handwashing, the CDC says, it the most important thing one can do to keep from getting sick.

Comments

[Colleen]

Has anyone heard of ORSA? I was just diagnosed with MRSA according to my physican who told me to go to the ER (as I am a veteran and our ID Doctor was off that day) and the ER doctor said I had a combination of ORSA and MRSA.

I'm not quite understanding this. Anyone with knowledge on ORSA would greatly be appreciated.