Questions answered on resistant staph
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Posted by By PETER DALE and CATHI DAGES on November 04, 2007 at 22:26:28:
Questions answered on resistant staph By PETER DALE and CATHI DAGES Staff at Central Vermont Medical Center and community members have expressed concern after reading recent media coverage relating to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. Here are some basic questions and answers about the organism: What is Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)? A virulent bacterial organism, resistant to certain antibiotics, that commonly lives in the nose and on the skin of nearly 20 percent of the population without causing harm. When a bacterium is living in our body but not causing a clinical illness it is called colonization. Why is MRSA suddenly getting headlines? There are several reasons: # Increasing documentation in the literature that MRSA is far more prevalent that was previously realized. # For decades MRSA was only seen in hospitals, usually academic medical centers and tertiary care hospitals. In more recent years it started being seen in community-based hospitals and in the community itself, meaning that patients showed up at the hospital or doctor's office with a MRSA infection acquired in the course of their daily activities. # Invasive MRSA (MRSA in the blood stream or other sterile sites) is occurring in otherwise healthy people. # Regular staph infections have the potential to cause life-threatening infections but MRSA is a more virulent strain that is resistant to certain antibiotics. How do you get MRSA? How is the infection transferred from person to person? Skin–to-skin contact (not necessarily intimate contact), crowded conditions or sharing contaminated personal items. How do you know if you have MRSA? What are the symptoms? It is primarily a skin infection which can resemble a pimple, boil or a spider bite. If you have a sore that won't heal, is red or has pus you should see a doctor and have it cultured. You can't look at someone and know if they have MRSA Can MRSA be treated? Yes. You may have heard in the media that MRSA cannot be treated. This is not true. It may be more difficult to treat and you may see a strain where there used to be a choice of three to five antibiotics and now there is only a choice of two or three. There has never been case that couldn't be treated. How can I protect my family to ensure nobody gets infected with MRSA? Be vigilant about hand-washing. Practice good personal hygiene more frequently and better than you might otherwise. Avoid sharing makeup, towels, brushes, razors, cell phones, etc. Become more conscientious about scrapes and cuts ensuring that they are treated and covered until they heal. If a wound gets infected, see a doctor and have it diagnosed. Do no-water instant hand antiseptic lotions work? Yes, if it contains 60 percent alcohol. Is the problem of MRSA confined to hospitals and other institutional settings? Although the majority of cases occur in hospital settings, a recent Centers for Disease Control report identified 14 percent of MRSA infections were determined to occur in the community at large. These are known as community-acquired Methicillin Resistant Staph aureus (CA-MRSA). Can pets get MRSA? Yes. Talk to your vet to get more information. Can MRSA infections be a problem among athletes who play on school sports teams? Yes. Infections can readily spread among people who are prone to cuts and scrapes and are in crowded conditions sharing contaminated personal items. How long can MRSA survive in the environment? MRSA can easily be found in the environment and its survival depends on a few things. If the surface is dry and the temperature is warm MRSA may survive for a few hours, but germs generally prefer a moist dark environment like your nose or a wound and can live there much longer. However proper cleaning with a detergent will solve the problem. Use a cleaning product that states on the label that it kills Staph aureus. Can a person die from MRSA? Yes. According to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association MRSA killed an estimated 19,000 people in 2005. Is it true that MRSA might be killing more Americans each year than AIDS? Yes, if mortality estimates are correct, MRSA kills more people than AIDS, emphysema or homicide. How can I protect our patients and my family? Be passionate about hand hygiene and always practice good infection control techniques.
Peter Dale, M.D.. is an internist at Mountain View Medical and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with a subspecialty in infectious diseases. Cathi Dages, RN, CIC is infection control nurse at Central Vermont Medical Center.
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