Community Associated MRSA Infection

There are several important steps in preventing the spread of MRSA: washing hands before and after patient contact, using gloves appropriately, covering any cuts on the hands, maintaining healthy hands, avoiding overcrowding in hospital departments, maintaining a clean environment, and prudent antibiotic prescribing (3). Hand washing is the most effective way to keep from spreading infections. The CDC recommends that you spend 20 seconds scrubbing your hands with soap while washing your hands (1). You can sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice all the way through also (1). If soap and water are not available, the CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol (1). This should not be used as a first line of defense. Hand washing is always the best way to get rid of harmful bacterium. Gloves and gowns are another great way to create a barrier between you and the bacteria. Proper removal of gloves and gown are vitally important. If your gloves are contaminated with MRSA, and you remove them improperly, you have completely defeated the point of even putting the gloves on. Once a surface is contaminated with MRSA, it can live prolonged periods of time unless removed through cleaning (5). For contaminated surfaces, you would want to use a disinfectant. Choosing the proper disinfectant, along with following the directions of use on the packaging, will rid the surface form microbes. It is extremely important to follow the directions on the packaging of the disinfectant because each disinfectant is different. One may need you to keep the surface wet for 2 minutes, while the other requires the surface to be kept wet for 10 minutes. If the surface isn’t kept wet for the allotted time, the surface will not be disinfected and will continue to contaminate

Anyone can get MRSA. You can get MRSA the same way you can get a cold, such as by touching someone or something that has the bacteria on it and then touching you eyes or your nose. MRSA can live on surfaces and objects for months.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or more commonly, MRSA can be transmitted in two separate ways, therefore giving it two different names. One way it is spread is by way of hospitals, giving it the name health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). Another way it is spread is through busy areas with a lot of crowding, therefore naming it community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). MRSA is considered an emerging disease because the prevalence of the disease has increased over the past few decades.

MRSA is spread by contact, so for example, touching another person who has it on the skin, or by touching objects the bacteria has transferred to. These particular infections are frequent amongst those with weak immune systems and those in hospitals, nursing homes, care centers, etc., because the superbugs crop up around surgical wounds or invasive devices such as catheters or implanted feeding tubes. The

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a bacterium that is resistant to many available high- level beta-lactam antibiotics, which include penicillins, “antistaphylococcal” penicillins and cephalosporins. Staphyloccoci are the most important bacteria that cause disease in humans. MRSA is sometimes branded as a nosocomial infection as it usually plagues patients that are receiving treatment in a hospital. The skin is the most common site of infection, where MRSA can cause cellulitis, folliculitis, or boils in the skin, but can also commonly be found in the nose, underarm, groin, upper respiratory tract, intestine, vagina and rectal areas of the body. MRSA infections occur with there is a break in the skin that allows the Methicillin resistant

Historically MRSA infections have been confined to hospitals and infected those that generally were very sick to begin with. In recent years, MRSA has started to become prevalent in healthy individuals; specifically those on high school and collegiate sports teams. Studies have shown that the rates among athletes tend to be higher in contact sports like football and wrestling (Buss, 2014). The rates also seem to be higher than in the past due to the lack of policy regarding the infections and lack of people following through on the policies in place (Fritz, 2012). MRSA can be prevented for student athletes, especially if those around them are committed to doing what they can to protect the health of the students.

Another difficulty of why MRSA is a problem because of the environmental effects of treatment resistance. An example of the environmental effects of treatment resistance is when Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants says, the bacteria may become immune to antibacterial products used in hospitals. Patients in a hospital for a long period of time may be exposed to the bacteria. Anything involving cutting human skin or placing a device into a body can make them susceptible to MRSA infection. If one shares a room with another patient with MRSA infection, he will most likely become infected (2010). This means that when you go to a hospital and stay there for a long time, you have a higher risk of getting MRSA. This shows the

According to Herman, Kee, Moores, and Ross (2008), “there is no data to support use of mupirocin or antiseptic body washes to eliminate colonization in people with community acquired MRSA (p.223).” Furthermore, they advise that proper hand washing, good personal hygiene, and appropriate wound care should be sufficient. However, advises provider to consult an infection disease specialist to discuss measure to discuss colonization (p.223).

MRSA(Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a bacteria that is resistant to most of all antibiotics. Staff germs are more often spreaded by touching. When the staff germs enter the body it can afffect bones, joints, the blood, or any organ. So if you get MRSA it is very important to get it checked on before it get out of hand. If you have a weak immune system your more than likely to get it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2016) "MRSA can cause severe problems such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia and surgical site infections. If not treated quickly, MRSA infections can cause sepsis and death” (para. 1). Elderly and individuals with depleted immunity (Mayo Clinic, 2016), patients in intensive care units (ICUs) where the antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use are the highest (Ma et al., 2015, p. 1), nursing home (NH) residents, and patients with indwelling devices are the most vulnerable population for the MRSA infection (Mayo Clinic, 2016). MRSA infections can put financial and physical strains to the healthcare system as observed by Hanna (2011), “MRSA costs the US healthcare system up to $34 billion a year and accounts for over 8 million additional hospital

The epidemiological triad for CA-MRSA is slightly different. The environment is obviously not a healthcare facility, but rather a general community and the host characteristics are different. Rather than being an immunocompromised individual the hosts are typically young and affiliated with activities that put them in close proximity to others. Hosts are characteristically members of health clubs or sports teams (Davis et al., 2007). The agent is still an antibiotic resistant strain of S. aureus, but studies have shown that the specific isolates of CA-MRSA are different than those that cause hospital acquired

MRSA is an infection caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus, this bacterium is commonly not harmful, can cause infection. This bacterium lives in the nose, throat, and also the groin and armpit. "Fortunately, only a few people are colonized by MRSA, usually in the nose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." (What is a MRSA infection, eMedicineHealth) "Anyone can get MRSA on their body from contact with an infected wound or by sharing personal items, such as towels or razors, that have touched infected skin. MRSA infection risk can be increased when a person is in activities or places that involve crowding, skin-to-skin contact, and shared equipment or supplies." (CDC, MRSA) As well as skin to skin contact, with

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a minimum of 2 million people become infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria and an estimated minimum of 23, 000 people die each year as a direct result of those infections . As an increasing number of infectious diseases are becoming resistant to numerous allopathic medicines , for example meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureusis or MRSA, more research is being conducted into alternative treatments derived from naturally occurring substances. Having heard about the

"In 2000, the CDC created a case definition for a CA-MRSA infection: any MRSA infection diagnosed for an outpatient or within 48 hours of hospitalization if the patient lacks the following health care-associated MRSA risk factors: hemodialysis, surgery, residence in a long-term care facility or hospitalization during the previous year, the presence of an indwelling catheter or a percutaneous device at the time of culture, or previous isolation of MRSA from the

MRSA is a possible life threatening infection that affects over eighty thousand people every year. MRSA affects everyone including healthy people. Between 25-30 percent of healthy people are colonized with this staph bacteria on their skin and in their nose. People also may become infected by touching an infected person or contaminated objects. Therefore, MRSA can spread easily among people with close contact to one another. This infection is commonly transmitted from infected family members and loved ones. Furthermore, MRSA is a type of staph infection that resist antibiotics. Overall, treating MRSA is difficult.