What is MRSA?

As our world becomes more advanced, so does the tiny bacteria. What a weird statement you would say but I'm afraid it is true. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or what is commonly called in the medical world as MRSA has been causing a deliberate panic lately. Who would have thought that these bacteria found in our skins and noses could evolve into something much stronger that most antibiotics won't be able to kill it.

When the doctor prescribes patients to take a certain amount of antibiotic, patients often cut off from their dosage either to save money or just by sheer stubbornness without knowing that such negligence could cause great consequences. When antibiotics are administered to a patient and the treatment fails to eradicate the whole bacteria populace in a targeted area, the exposure of those remaining bacteria to antibiotics will result to their development in the patient's body making them more resistant to most antibiotics and thus making them harder to kill.

Adding to the dilemma, the offspring of those surviving bacteria also retain the new resistance to antibiotic. The stronger strains of bacteria are then classified as MRSA and their effects to the human body could often times be fatal.

People carrying MRSA are not immediately considered as infected individuals. The effects of MRSA greatly depend on a person's immune system and how his or her body reacts to it. People carrying MRSA but with stronger immune systems are sometimes just carriers of the bacteria and are considered to be "colonized" by them. Those that have weaker immune systems however, or patients having just undergone surgeries are be more susceptible to MRSA infection.

The effects of the MRSA infection to the body range from the development of pimples, abscesses, impetigo, septic wounds, heart-valve complications, toxic shock syndromes to even death, in more serious cases.

To date, there are about three antibiotics to which the MRSA has not yet developed a resistance. Vancomycin and Teicoplanin are two antibiotics that are introduced intravenously (injected through a vein in your arm) to the body of an infested person. It has a high probability to eradicate the MRSA infestation provided that a strict administration of the right dosage of the antibiotics has been followed.

Mupirocin is the third antibiotic that can kill MRSA. This is commonly mixed to powders, antibiotic creams, and special soaps and shampoos to be then applied on people diagnosed as carriers of the bacteria. Medical practitioners urge the public to take on such preventive measures to lower the risks of transferring MRSA to the people with weaker immune systems.

The widespread use of central lines and catheters among hospitals has also contributed to the rapid development of these bacteria. As more health treatments become more complex, the risk of spreading MRSA rises drastically. Due to the constant exposure of these medical facilities to different patients of varying health cases, the chances for bacteria to develop new resistances increase as there are more opportunities for them to evolve.

Through the years our ignorance on the matter has caused MRSA to rise to an alarming number enough that even governments around the world has started to act on the issue. Guidelines have been set for hospitals to follow in the hope that an MRSA resistance to the three remaining antibiotics can be prevented. Despite the massive preventions taken by the medical sectors, the best actions for responsible citizens to prevent the spread of MRSA would still be constant hand washing and proper hygiene.

Resource:
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa-methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/ds00735