Much of the country went on a red alert within the past few years as news of two teenage deaths were linked to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). As recently as four years ago, health-care providers didn't know what they were looking for. But people with an unexplained skin sore that hurts need to have it checked.
Gyms, schools, hospitals and nursing homes are crawling with germs and bacteria. In particular, after surgery, one of the biggest complications can be post-operative infection.
Super-staph, or MRSA, is the biggest culprit of all. According to the Mayo Clinic, MSRA developed decades ago when a strain "emerged in hospitals that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it."
Regular staph infections can be treated with antibiotics but MSRA is wilier and can outwit all but the most powerful drugs, including penicillin. Instead, doctors generally rely on the antibiotic vancomycin to treat resistant germs.
Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects. However, they can pass the germ to others.
"We started to see it in the community about five years ago and it's stayed at the same level," said JoDee Alverson, St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center's director of infection prevention. "We might have it and not know it. It can live on surfaces like exercise mats. Staph isn't a flesh-eating disease. You do need bigger, stronger antibiotics to kill it.
"It can look like a spider bite, a big pimple or welt. The standard precautions (taken in the hospital) are gloves; and, it sounds simple, but hand washing between patients to make sure you're not taking the germs away with you. It's an easy way to prevent the spread. Patients are also checked for a history of MSRA. We are constantly aware of that."
Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. While it can spread easier than AIDS because of the way it's passed by contact, it's easier to kill and prevent.
People who have abused antibiotics, by not finishing doses or taking them when they have a cold or flu, tend to be more susceptible to infections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSRA prevention
- Wash your hands.
- Keep personal items—towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment—personal.
- Keep wounds covered.
- Sit out athletic games or practices if you have a concerning infection.
- Sanitize linens by washing on "hot" water settings with added bleach. Dry in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each wearing.
- Test specifically for MRSA.
- Use antibiotics wisely. Take all of the doses, even if the infection is gone.
