M.R.S.A. - What is it and Are You at Risk?

We've all heard allot in the news lately about M.R.S.A, but what is it and are you at risk? Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteria or M.R.S.A. is a deadly staph infection that is immune to most forms of antibiotical treatment. While about one third of the general population have a staph type bacteria of some kind in their mucas membranes of their nose or on their skin, it is normally not infectious. M.R.S.A. however can be fatal as it is resistant to most antibiotics and difficult to treat. Prevention can also be difficult since many people carry the infection in their bodies without being infected. These people are what the medical community considers to be "colonized" which means they can carry the germ without any negative health effects but can infect others with the germ.

According to the Mayo clinic, staph bacteria are normally harmless to the body unless it enters through a wound, and even then it usually causes minor skin irritation. The antibiotic resistant strain however, can cause serious problems for people who have weakened immune systems including skin and soft tissue infections and a form of pneumonia. Staph infections including M.R.S.A. normally start out as small red bumps on the skin. These can turn into abscesses which require surgical attention to be drained. Severe infections can create life threatening abscesses which burrow deep into the body affecting joints, bones and organs or causing infections in the bloodstream.

Internet sources site several factors as the causes for the rise in antibiotical resistant immune diseases such as M.R.S.A. These causes include over prescription and usage of antibiotics in humans, over use of antibiotics in animals leading to food and water contamination of antibiotics, and the germ mutation itself which occurs naturally in nature.

There are two particular strains of concern to the medical community. These are hospital acquired mrsa and community acquired mrsa. The hospital strain, as implied occurs mainly in a hospital setting, where patients are susceptible to it due to weak immune systems and open wounds such as burns and surgical wounds. People residing in a long term care facility, using invasive medical devices such as dialysis machines, catheters or feeding tubes, and people who have recently been treated with fluoroquinolones antibiotics are also at risk for the hospital strain of M.R.S.A.

The other strain, CA-M.R.S.A. or community acquired M.R.S.A. often has a different setting than the hospital strain. Young children are often at risk for this strain because of undeveloped immune systems and they often have cuts or scrapes which the bacteria can set up in. Other risk factors for this strain include participating in community sports, sharing towels and athletic equipment, living in crowded or unsanitary conditions, or people who associate closely with health care workers.

The best prevention practices for M.R.S.A. include not sharing personal items, keeping wounds covered, sanitizing linens and gym clothing, obeying proper hand washing techniques, and when around health care workers requesting they wash their hands every time they touch you or a loved one.

The only well known treatment for M.R.S.A. is vancomycin a powerful antibiotic, though even this is not always effective as hospitals have already reported strains that are resistant to this drug as well. Some doctors are hesitant to use the drug because of resistant strains, fearing that they may end up increasing the number of resistant bacteria, the Doctor may surgically drain abscesses caused by the infection rather than treat it with antibiotics.