MRSA: Skin Infections

You should always make sure that you wash your hands so that infections like MRSA do not spread.

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

Touching objects, such as public phones or doorknobs, that have MRSA bacteria on the surface.

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.

Methicillin Staphylococcus aureus is defined as strains of bacteria that are resistant to beta-lactam agents, including the synthetic penicillins (eg, methicillin, oxacillin) and the cephalosporins. MRSA can resist the effects of many common antibiotics, so it is difficult to treat. If the infection spreads to the blood stream and becomes systemic may increases risk for life threatening complications. First sign of MRSA are small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. Next they may mature into deep and painful abscesses that require surgical draining. If the bacteria is not confined to the skin and infect the blood stream, causing potentially fatal infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.

Preventable infections regardless of the causative agent, have become major triggers of unintended patient outcome, increased morbidity, and mortality (Arias, 2010). Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) are the most common causes of healthcare associated infections (HAI) and outbreaks in acute care hospitals and community settings (CADTH, 2010). The widespread infection with the MRSA pathogen is believed to have increased from 2.4 percent in 1975 to 29 percent in 1991 and 2003 in hospitals across the United States (U S) (CADTH, 2010). The prevalence is even greater among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients at 53 percent (CADTH, 2010) and continues to rise due to the widespread

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

MRSA is a skin infection that can potentially lead to death if not properly treated. Symptoms include rash, headaches, body aches, chills, fever, extreme fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, and chest pains. The rash may appear as pimples or boils and can be quite painful. There are two types of MRSA. HA-MRSA is an infection that was contracted in a hospital or healthcare setting and CA-MRSA is an infection contracted by a healthy individual in the community. Often times, those who contract CA-MRSA have a fragile immune system, play sports that require contact to contact, live with health care professional, or live in contaminated environments. Student athletes are most at risk. They can catch infections from gyms and locker rooms that weren 't properly cleaned. If there is any suspicion of having the infection, one should go to their doctor to determine if it is a MRSA infection. The longer one waits the harder it will be to treat it.

Carla, your post on community acquired MRSA infection, detection, and treatment of the condition is spot on. We all walk around with a variety of bacteria on our skin, especially healthcare workers. As healthcare professionals we are in constant contact with patients with various skin conditions including MRSA so it important to follow guidelines set by our institutions to limit the exposure to ourself and other patients. In addition, to the demographic that you mention in your post at risk for acquiring MRSA, younger non-exposed hospitalized patients are at risk as well.

When penicillin was released to the public in 1944, it was a miracle drug. Infections that had been killers were suddenly treatable. Doctors recommended it generously, both for illnesses that needed it and illnesses that didn’t. Before long, however, it took much stronger doses to see penicillin’s effects. When the antibiotic arms race began in 1944, most physicians assumed that new antibiotics would be discovered or created to keep up with the evolving resistance in bacteria, but the bacteria are constantly evolving new defenses and doctors are starting to run low on antibiotic ammunition. MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is one of many types of bacteria

As nurses, taking care of patients with MRSA can be seen in everyday practice. It can be seen in patients with sepsis from an infected wound, patients who have pneumonia, or patients who only have a colonization for it (“Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2015”). Regardless if it’s colonization or an active infection, and the source of the infection, proper policies and procedures are in place to reduce the transmission of MRSA to other patients in the hospital or nursing home setting. This includes performing proper hand hygiene and standard precautions, as well as wearing protective gown and gloves when entering the patient’s room. It is very important to adhere to these policies and procedures and educate others on the importance of these policies and procedures to reduce the transmission of MRSA to others.

Many people harbor Staph on their body without and negative consequences to their health. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016), approximately one and three people carry staph in their nose without any ill effect. Staph aureus is considered an opportunity infection; therefore, universal precaution practice is of upmost importance. The mode of transmission is through direct contact, air droplet, aerosol, human or animal bites. The bacteria can enter into the host through broken skin and from the cough or sneeze of an infected person. Usually, MRSA is presented by a bump or an infected area to the skin, accompanied by redness, swelling, pain, fever, warmth to the skin, pus or drainage (CDC, 2016). Staph is an emerging infection it is of upmost important that public health keep a close look outlook on it progression. MRSA has proven to be challenging due to it resistant property to antibiotic therapy. According to the study that was done at the hospitals in India, 35.1% of S. aureus and 22.5% coagulates-negative staphylococcal isolates were resistant to methicillin (Pal, Kar & Tsering, 2011).

aureus has a remarkable ability to develop antibiotic resistance, leading to four distinct resistance waves that have occurred in the past sixty years. The advent of PRSA, then MRSA resistance has resulted in a steady decline in the efficacy of these valuable antibiotics. The MRSA first emerged as a nosocomial pathogen (HA-MRSA; in the 1960s), then further surfaced as a community based infection (CA-MRSA; in the 1990s) and has subsequently increased the staphylococcal disease burden. It is a global public health problem and represents the most commonly identified antibiotic-resistant pathogen.

Although uncomplicated skin abscesses are common, the appropriate management of the condition in the era of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphyloccous aureus (MRSA) is unclear.

In the present study a total of 270 personnel screened for microorganisms and MRSA carriage. From these personnel 91(33.7%) Dentists, 89(32.9%) Nursing staff and 90(33.3%) were patients. Among 270 DHCPs screened, thirty were positive for MRSA either in nose or hands giving a carriage rate of 11.1%. The proportion of personnel with nasal carriage of MRSA was higher (14.7%) than hand carriage (9.3%) this result agreed with that of Kalyani et al. (2012) where personnel carriage of nasal isolates were higher than hands carriage rate. In the present study, we found a higher proportion of MRSA hand carriage among the dental nurses (3.3%) and patients (3.3%) when compared to dentist (2.7%) this was in line with the Indian study by