MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus): Symptoms and treatment

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It is tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus or staphylococcus. The reason is that this bacterium is immune to some commonly used antibiotics to treatment of bacterial infections. The symptoms of MRSA depend on where patient is infected. Most often, it causes mild infections on the skin, causing typical pimples or boils. However, it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or even urinary tract. Although most MRSA infections are not serious, some of these can be life threatening. Many public health experts feel the situation is alarming by the spread of tough strains of MRSA. Because it is hard to treat, MRSA has other name, as super bug.

What causes it?

MRSA was discovering in 1961, and it is now immune to Methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many other antibiotics. While some antibiotics still work, MRSA is constantly adapting, and researchers developing new antibiotics are having a tough time keeping up.

Who gets MRSA?

The easiest way to spread MRSA is by contact. Therefore, you could get MRSA by touching another person who has it on the skin. On the other hand, you could get it by touching objects that have the bacteria on them as well. MRSA is bacteria that more that 1% population colonizes, although most of them are not infected. Infections are most common among people who have weak immune systems. Most prone are persons who are living in hospitals, nursing homes, and other heath care centers. Infection can appear around surgical wounds, invasive devices like catheters, or around implanted feeding tubes. Rates of infection in hospitals, especially intensive care units, are rising throughout whole world. In U.S. hospitals, MRSA causes up to 40%-50% of staphylococcus infections.

What are the symptoms of MRSA?

Most commonly when infection is on the skin, it looks like a boil or abscess. It also might infect a surgical wound, but in either case, the area would look swollen, red, painful, and pus filled. Many people who actually have staphylococcus skin infections often mistake it for a spider bite. If these bacteria infects the lungs and causes pneumonia, you might have shortness of breath, fever, or chills. MRSA can cause many other symptoms since it can infect the urinary tract or the bloodstream where symptoms are typical for that area. Very rarely, staphylococcus infection can result in necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacterial infections. These are serious skin infections, which spread very quickly. While frightening, necrotizing fasciitis caused by staphylococcus infection is rare. There have only been a handful of reported cases about these cases.

When to call the doctor

In most cases, MRSA is easily treated, but since MRSA infection can be serious or rarely even fatal, you should not ignore signs of infection. See your health care provider if you are already being treated for an infection, watch for signs that your medicine is not working. If you are taking an antibiotic, call your doctor if the infection is no better after three or four days or if the infection keeps getting worse. If you develop a fever, or your fever gets worse you should also contact your doctor. People who are ill or have a compromised immune system have a higher risk of getting MRSA as for any other infection. If you have a condition that lowers your immunity, call your doctor right away if you think that you might have an infection with MRSA. Then, your health care provider will be able to run lab tests to see if you have MRSA. If you have an infection on the skin, your doctor will take a culture from the infected area, so depending on your symptoms your doctor might test also your blood, urine, or sputum.

What are the treatments for MRSA infection?

The good news is that MRSA is treatable although by definition, MRSA is resistant to some antibiotics. However, some other kinds of antibiotics still work. Bactrim and Vancocin are often the first drugs used as treatment option. Other options are Cleocin, Levaquin, Cubicin, Targocid, Zyvox, and Synercid for treating MRSA infection. Some of these antibiotics are intravenously. There is also emerging antibiotic resistance seen with some of these medications as well, although antibiotics are not always necessary. If you have a skin boil, your doctor may just make an incision and drain it to relieve your symptoms. If you are taking antibiotics, you should follow your health care provider’s instructions precisely. You should never stop taking your medicine, even if you are feeling better. If you do not take all of your medicine, some of the strongest staphylococcus bacteria may survive. These survivors then have the potential to become resistant to the antibiotic, and they are able to re-infect you or infect someone else.

How to prevent MRSA

As we already hear, staphylococcus infection is the easiest to spread through direct contact. You can get MRSA if you touch a person who carries the bacteria, or if you touch something that an infected person touched.  There are also some things, which have been associated with the spread of MRSA. Close skin-to-skin contact, openings in the skin, like cuts or abrasions, and contaminated items and surfaces are important things associated with spreading MRSA infection. Crowded living conditions, like in hospitals or prisons and poor hygiene in health care centers, is contributing factor for staphylococcus infection. People who carry MRSA are sometimes isolated from other patients to prevent the bacteria from spreading. That is why we should all know which the best ways to prevent MRSA are. First, it is important to wash hands using soap and water or an alcohol-base hand sanitizer and wash it thoroughly. Experts suggest that you wash your hands for as long as it takes you to recite the alphabet in your head. Try to cover cuts and scrapes with a clean bandage, which is going to help the wound heal. It will also prevent you from spreading bacteria to other people if you already have diagnosis of MRSA infection. Do not touch other people’s wounds or bandages and do not share personal items like towels or razors. If you use any shared gym equipment, wipe it down before and after you use it each time. Drying clothes, sheets, and towels in a dryer helps kill bacteria.

How to prevent spreading MRSA infection

Does MRSA attack healthy people and healthy skin?

It is true, because staphylococcus infections commonly affect healthy people and healthy skin. Usually, these infections are easy to treat, while any activity that promotes breakdown in skin integrity can promote these skin infections including those caused by MRSA. MRSA is a problem in the healthcare setting for over 20 years. CDC believes that MRSA has been emerging in the community over the last several years. It is difficult to determine whether there is an increase in MRSA disease in the community or an increased awareness and recognition of MRSA disease in the world. However, it is clear that some of the recently recognized outbreaks of MRSA are associated with strains that have some unique properties. We might compare this to the traditional hospital-based MRSA strains, suggesting some biologic properties, which may allow the MRSA strains to spread more or cause more disease. However, these hypotheses need testing and confirmation.