Protect Yourself from MRSA Super Bug

I found this article to be very interesting and informative. Please be on the lookout for any signs and symptoms of a virulent MRSA infection of the skin, as described below.

According to the November 2007 Baptist Health Life in the Circle Newsletter, about one-third of healthy people carry staph—as it’s called for short—on their skin or in their nose without getting sick. However, staph can cause pneumonia or infections of the skin, joints, or blood. "Staph is the most common germ you have on your skin and body," explains Mobeen Rathore, MD, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Wolfson Children's Hospital and the University of Florida/Jacksonville. "Only a small percent of people get sick with it." These infections are usually treated with antibiotics called beta-lactams.

Staph can mutate and change from a benign organism to a deadly one. About one percent of the population carry this type of staph, known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Not all people carrying MRSA get sick, but patients with MRSA infections are likelier than those with regular staph infections to have a serious illness, stay in the hospital for a long time or die. Serious bloodstream infections, pneumonia or surgical wound infections can result.

Early symptoms include:

• Boils or pimples on the skin that may feel warm or drain pus
• Fever
• Rash

In the community, the following people are at risk of catching MRSA:

. People who have had surgery or been in a hospital during the past year
· Those with weak immune systems
· Athletes who share personal items such as towels
· Children in daycare
· Large groups of people living together

Prevention Is Key

Hand washing with soap and warm water is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones against MRSA. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers work, too.

The following steps can help prevent community-associated MRSA:
· Wash your hands with soap and water. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer containing at least 62 percent alcohol for times you don't have access to soap and water.

· Cover cuts and scrapes with clean bandages. Avoid touching other people’s used bandages.
· Don’t share razors, towels, clothing, athletic gear or other personal care items.
· Clean any rented or shared sporting equipment with an antiseptic solution before use.
· If you have a cut or sore, wash towels and bed linens in hot water with added bleach and dry them in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each wearing.
· Shower immediately following athletic activity.
· If you have a skin infection that requires treatment, ask your doctor if you should be tested for MRSA. Always inform health care personnel if you have a wound or lesion that does not respond to initial therapy such as antibiotic ointment.