Drug-Resistant Staph: What You Need to Know

[babylonsister]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/drug-resistant-staph-what-you-need-to-know/

Drug-Resistant Staph: What You Need to Know


For years health authorities have warned of the growing threat posed by drug-resistant bacteria, but most of us have been half-listening. Not anymore.

A virulent strain of bacteria that resists many antibiotics appears to be killing more people annually than AIDS, emphysema or homicide, taking an estimated 19,000 lives in 2005, according to a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The recent death of a 17-year-old high school football payer in Virginia is a tragic reminder that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, can prey on otherwise healthy people.

The best defense against the potentially-deadly infection is common sense and cleanliness. “We need to reinvent hygiene for the 21st century,’’ says Dr. Charles Gerba, professor of environmental microbiology at University of Arizona at Tucson. “You go to a grocery store, and hundreds of thousands of people have touched those surfaces every day. Microorganisms are evolving very rapidly.’’

Here are answers to common questions about community-acquired staph infections, or CA-MRSA.

Q: What does CA-MRSA look like?

A: CA-MRSA is primarily a skin infection. It often resembles a pimple, boil or spider bite, but it quickly worsens into an abscess or puss-filled blister or sore. Patients who have sores that won’t heal or are filled with pus should see a doctor and ask to be tested for staph infection. They should not squeeze the sore or try to drain it — that can spread the infection to other parts of the skin or deeper into the body.
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http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/drug-resistant-staph-what-you-need-to-know/

[woodsprite]

1. Thanks for the info! This is hot on the trail of a note from my

daughter's principal that there was a case of MRSA at her high school and the officials were notified over the weekend. Apparently some parents knew yesterday morning because my daughter said only about 2/3 of the kids were actually at school yesterday.

[moobu2]

2. I believe what they’re calling “drug-resistant staph”

Is actually staph which is resistant to penicillin class antibiotics. There are many other antibiotics that are quite effective in treating it as long as the infection is diagnosed within a reasonable time.

[EST]

4. .

[EST]

3. Unfortunately, I know far too much about mrsa, from experience.

As a psoriasis sufferer, I tend to have more than the average amount of various critters living on my skin, which led to an abscess above an ankle. The doctors at that time, even dermatologists and sports doctors did not recognize the problem.

An accident resulted in my ankle being shattered and, because of an arrogant doctor's failure to listen and inadequate cleanup prior to surgery, I acquired a mrsa infection in my bones. This wound up causing seven more operations and a pic line in my arm for almost a year.

The human body loses one to five million cells a day and frequent bathing is essential to reduce the population of this deadly bacteria.

I was in the hospital again (different one) in 2003 for some heart work and they brought in a powerful local politician who had had some earlier back surgery. His back hurt more than it should have in that stage of his recovery.
He was dead in a matter of hours from mrsa acquired during the earlier surgery.

This is a deadly serious problem, people and needs all the attention you can give it.

[babylonsister]

5. Holy crap, EST! 7 surgeries? And one thing I really don't get is

this: "inadequate cleanup prior to surgery" Didn't docs learn a long time ago that sterility cuts down on infections? I find it ludicrous that docs need to be reminded to wash their hands nowadays.

I'm glad you conquered that battle, but imagine you're always on the lookout for any kind of infection setting in.