MRSA disease is a development of the staph aureus infections that have been common in human health for thousands of years. Staph aureus (the SA part of MRSA) bacteria is carried by 1 in 3 people. Many people carry staph bacteria, have no symptoms and only suffer an infection when they have another illness, wound or graze. In the past antibiotics tamed staph but in recent times multidrug resistant staph emerged (MRSA). The MRSA disease has risen to prominence as it has become more and more common in hospitals over the last 40 years and also emerged in the general community during the last decade . In the USA it is thought to kill more people every year than HIV/AIDS (19,000+). Several drugs still work to stop staph infections but new drugs have to be found as resistance grows.
Many come in contact with MRSA via hospital treatment and about 1% of the population are thought to carry it in many countries around the world. Community Acquired MRSA (CA MRSA) is a different type of MRSA. It mainly causes skin infections and can be treated by more drugs. It does spread faster and can do more damage than the hospital strain to those it infects. In some cities around the world up to 10% of people may be carrying CA MRSA. (MRSA is also sometimes called mersa,mursa or msra.)
Catching SA or MRSA is not going to mean that in weeks you will become ill. It could be decades before you suffer as a result of being colonised. The challenge for many is that MRSA can create severe complications for those suffering from other medical conditions. It attacks the vulnerable at their times of greatest weakness
How is it treated?
There are 3 key treatment regimes that are commonly used.
- For those who are colonised - a nasal treatment and a skin wash. This is often the strategy when MRSA is rare or prior to an operation as a means of preventing infection. Where MRSA is common some doctors will not suggest decolonisation as many will be recolonised within months within the local community. Some deep seated - throat and intestine - colonisation may require drug treatment.
- For those who have a potential or active bloodstream infection - drugs such as Vancomycin, Linezolid or Daptomycin.
- For those with infected wounds - special honey, silver bandages, garlic preparations and tea tree oil are all believed to be effective in killing MRSA in a wound. Many who have the skin infections common with CA MRSA simply need incision and drainage of the infected area and good hygiene while it heals. Antibiotics are not always needed.
How do people catch MRSA?
There are several ways it is believed to spread.
Hand carriage - this is why hospital hand hygiene is key.
Contaminated surfaces - clean hospital wards are vital.
Medical instruments - special coatings or silver help kill bacteria.
Airborne particles - MRSA can spread from the nose with colds and flu.
Needles - Injecting drug users or tattoo artists may be passing on MRSA
Sexual Intimacy - the nose, groin and underarms are key hiding places for MRSA
Shared items - Families or military personnel, sports teams or
prison inmates may share hygiene items such as towels etc and infect each other.
How can it be prevented
The media often focus on clean hospitals and clean hands as a key to combating MRSA. Others believe that this will only cut cases by 30% and that a diverse strategy is vital and will include:
- Clean Wards - especially surfaces and keyboards.
- Staff Screening - are they super carriers?
- Patient Screening - so that they can be decolonised and to avoid self infection.
- Hospital Equipment - because it can take the infection deep into a wound.
- Air Hygiene - to help prevent nasal colonisation
- Hand Hygiene - to prevent transport from patient to patient via staff hands
- Antibiotic Restraint - because resistance grows from over prescription
- The Food Chain - is resistance also provoked by over use in animals?
- Patient Isolation - this helps lessen the potential risk of airborne infection
- Lifestyle Choices - needle injected drugs and multiple sexual partners help spread chronic illnesses that emerge slowly.
What can I do
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Stay informed - this site and several others can help you do this. The A-Z guide in the right hand column will give you in depth information on over 50 aspects of MRSA from over 500 articles, news items and academic papers.
- Ask others via our MRSA Watch forum
- Act locally by becoming involved in patient advocacy or patient/hospital forums
- Seek justice - do you need to take legal action because of neligence or do we all need to speak up for communities who are being hit by CA MRSA but are underinsured and often powerless.
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