Important Facts about MRSA
This is a portal providing information on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infections in school and community college of Chicago.
What is Staphylococcus aureus (staph)?
Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," are bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Approximately 25% to 30% of the population is colonized (when bacteria are present, but not causing an infection) in the nose with staph bacteria. Sometimes, staph can cause an infection. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infections in the United States. Most of these skin infections are minor (such as pimples and boils) and can be treated without antibiotics (also known as antimicrobials or antibacterials). However, staph bacteria also can cause serious infections (such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia).
What is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)?
Some staph bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to antibiotics called beta-lactams. Beta-lactam antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. While 25% to 30% of the population is colonized with staph, approximately 1% is colonized with MRSA.
Types of MRSA
- Healthcare associated MRSA (HA-MRSA): MRSA occurs most frequently among patients who undergo invasive medical procedures or who have weakened immune systems and are being treated in hospitals and healthcare facilities such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. MRSA in healthcare settings commonly causes serious and potentially life threatening infections, such as bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, or pneumonia.
- Community associated MRSA (CA-MRSA):Staph and MRSA can also cause illness in persons outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities. MRSA infections that are acquired by persons who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are known as CA-MRSA infections. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people.
What are the signs and symptoms of MRSA?
Staph bacteria, including MRSA, can cause skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. More serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, or surgical wound infections. If you suspect you have a skin or MRSA infection, contact your health care provider, especially if you have a fever. Here is a link to a picture page on what MRSA infections look like. More pictures here
How is MRSA spread?
- Staph can be easily spread by contaminated hands that have not been properly washed. It also can be transmitted by contact with secretions from infected skin lesions, wounds, and objects and surfaces contaminated with staph.
- Settings linked to the spread of staph or MRSA skin infections among athletes, children, military recruits, and correctional facility inmates have included the "5 C's":
- Close skin to skin contact
- Contaminated items or surfaces
- Crowded living conditions
- Lack of Cleanliness
- Compromised skin
If you have staph, or MRSA skin infection, what can you do to prevent others from getting infected?
- Cover your wound. Keep wounds that are draining covered with clean, dry bandages.
- Follow your health care provider's instructions. Pus from infected wounds can contain staph or MRSA. Keeping the infection covered will help prevent the spread to others. Bandages or tape can be thrown away with the regular trash.
- Wash your hands. You, your family, and others in close contact should wash hands often with soap and warm water, especially after changing a bandage or touching an infected wound. You can use an alcohol-based hand gel when soap and water are not available. The soap does not have to be anti-bacterial, any regular soap will do.
- Do not share personal items. Avoid sharing personal items, such as towels, washcloths, razors, clothing, or uniforms that may have had contact with the infected wound or bandage. Wash soiled sheets, towels, and clothes with water and laundry detergent. Drying clothes in a hot dryer, rather than air-drying, also helps kill bacteria in clothes.
- Talk to your doctor. Tell any health care providers who treat you that you have or had a staph or MRSA skin infection.
How is MRSA treated?
- See your healthcare provider if you think you have a staph or MRSA infection. Most staph and MRSA infections are treatable with antibiotics. If you are given an antibiotic, take all of the doses, even if the infection is getting better, unless your doctor tells you to stop taking it. Do not share antibiotics with other people or save unfinished antibiotics to use at another time.
- Many staph skin infections may be treated by draining the abscess or boil and may not require antibiotics. Drainage of skin boils or abscesses should only be done by a healthcare provider.
- If after visiting your healthcare provider the infection is not getting better after a few days, contact them again. If other people you know or live with get the same infection tell them to go to their healthcare provider.
- It is possible to have a staph or MRSA skin infection come back (recur) after it is cured. To prevent recurrence from happening, follow your healthcare provider's directions while you have the infection, and follow the prevention steps outlined above.
