Msra!

[velogirl]

when my father contracted MRSA in 1997, he was placed in isolation (to protect him) and treated with steroids and vancomycin. vanco (a super-powerful antibiotic) was the only drug effective at treating MRSA at the time. his immune system was already compromised because of the drugs he took for RA and he died about 6 months after contracting MRSA.

two years later my mother had nasal surgery and the docs confirmed that she had colonized MRSA (ie was carrying it all this time). she was placed in isolation and treated with vanco. she didn't die.

in 2005, I suffered a post-surgical infection in one of my salivary glands. my doc confirmed it was also MRSA (apparently I had colonized it 8 years prior). I was not hospitalized (this surprised me) but was treated with vanco. I didn't die either.

I remember a statistic from 1997 when my father contracted MRSA that approximately 80% of all hospital personnel were colonized with MRSA. my father contracted MRSA during surgery (spinal fusion). if my mother and I really weren't colonized in 1997 (as assumed by our docs), one could then assume that we also contracted MRSA during surgery.

hospitals can be scary places. I truly believe you shouldn't stay there any longer than necessary -- it's just too dangerous with lots of germies (like MRSA) just waiting to get you!

[roadie gal]

There are different types of MRSA: hospital and community acquired. The hospital acquired is MUCH worse. It's resistant to many more antibiotics. In fact, they have found some that are resistant to vancomycin, which is scary beyond belief.

The community acquired can be treated with more antibiotics, including some of the older, cheaper ones... so far.

Staph is the big news this week, but many, many bugs are becoming resistant to our antibiotics. Unfortunately, there's a lot more money in erectile dysfunction drugs than there is in antibiotics. So there just aren't that many new antibiotics coming down the pipe.

[Brandi]

My dh just found out yesterday that some mrsa infection are being mistaken for bug bites. When we looked at the pitures it looked just like what he had. So maybe he didn't get a black widow bite?

[roadie gal]

It can look like a little blister, or a bug bite. Usually there's some small lesion that allows the infection into the skin, though. So he might have had a bug bite or some small cut.

[ChickWithBrains]

1. You can't tell if it's MRSA or just run of the mill staph that's causing a skin infection, and while it's scary, the majority of skin infections aren't MRSA. This is changing, but so are doctor's prescribing practices when we see it. A single picture alone does no justice to the vast array of infections MRSA can cause. (I've seen many.)

2. Vanco has never been the "only" drug MRSA responds to; however, depending on the infection site it is sometimes the best drug. In areas where MRSA is pretty prevalent as a skin infection bug, clindamycin or bactrim tablets are often first-line treatment for non-hospitalized patients.

3. Bleeding is the best way for wounds to avoid infection, and it's only at and shortly after the time the wound is caused. Scrub that sucker and let it bleed, then dress it appropriately. Antibiotic ointments don't do squat except help the wound heal with better cosmetic results.

4. Most wounds don't get infected. Rates are surprisingly low, even for wounds that need stitches.

5. No good data yet on whether "eradication" techniques for carriers actually improve serious infection rates, morbidity, or mortality. Underlying illness seems to play a much bigger role.

6. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!

[Brandi]

Just to be clear on this the doc my husband saw did a culture on he's infection to make sure it was mrsa. We never assumed it was.

[jusdooit]

Most people don't take enough time to perform this task. Sing a verse of happy birthday to yourself to get the time right. Also remember staph can reside on your towels so change them frequently.
All this talk of MRSA has made me very nervous, as I have 2nd &b 3rd degree burns on my left hand right now. I am way more paranoid than usual.