Mrsa Research Paper

Healthcare associated infections are ranked as one of the top five causes of death in the United States (1). This is a very serious problem being that so many people go to hospitals to maybe have a surgery and get better and in return get a very serious infection that has been known to take limbs and even lives. There are many different hospital acquired or nosocomial infections, but the one that I am referring to is especially dangerous. The name of this infection is called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or more commonly known as MRSA.

These reports of infection and colonization by strains of MRSA in children provide compelling evidence that MRSA strains have gained a foothold in the community and are emerging as important outpatient pathogens.1

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.

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 that affects the skin is caused by the same bacteria that cause respiratory MRSA. Staphylococcus aureus, however, enters through a break in the skin and causes infection. The sore will look like a boil or a type of abscess on the skin and is extremely contagious especially if it is weeping. The abscess may need to be drained and lanced to prevent the spread of infection. It is very important that if a boil or abscess is seen on the skin to go to a physician to get it checked to prevent the spread of MRSA. If the sore is infected from MRSA, it will not go away on its own and using antibiotic cream will not help. Actually it will just feed the bacteria and make it worse. So it is very important to go to your physician or to the hospital

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.

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

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MSRA), is a bacterium that cause infection in different parts of the body. What caused MSRA is a bacteria called staph. Staph is bacteria that lives in our bodies. Many people actually carry staph in their noses, but are not infected by it. Staph can be an issues if it manages to get into the skin, often by a cut. Staph is one of the most common caused of skin disease and can have serious cause of infected wounds.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is similar to regular hospital acquired MRSA in that it is resistant to cefazolin and antibiotics similar to cefazolin. However, it differs from MRSA in that it doesn't display MRSA’s common risk factors, and is susceptible to other various antibiotics.

At cellular level the strain of staph targets the body’s white blood cells. Without white blood cells it is harder to fight off infections or diseases. The human body also contains cells called persisters. Persister cells are made of all pathogens and their only job is to survive. These cells do anything they can to survive anything which explains why most antibiotics do not work against MRSA. MRSA is more difficult to treat because the cells do not know how to respond to the antibiotics given to treat it. The bacteria is more likely to come when medicine is given too many times or not used correctly. This makes the bacteria change so that the antibiotics that are given doesn’t make them work.

These bumps also can feel hot to the touch, have pus or other forms of drainage. It can make the person feel weak, fatigued, and even can run a fever (Mayo). Doctors first use touch to see if they can feel external borders of the abscess and how fluctuant it feels. The seriousness comes into play with how quickly they can spread wide and deep into tissues, bones, joints, surgical wounds, heart, lungs, and the bloodstream (Mayo). Something that seems so simple those little pimples that we get as teenagers and sometimes adults can be so deadly if the wrong bacteria finds its way in. Studies show that one in three people carry regular Staphylococcus aureus in their nose and two out of hundred carry MRSA (CDC). This number has drastically increased over the years in 1974 only 2% of Staphylococcus aureus infections were MRSA in 2004 this was reevaluated and it is now up to 64%

Infectious Agent- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). MRSA is caused by a staph bacterium that becomes resistant to antibiotics.

Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has been well known for being resistant to β-lactam antibiotics, which are the most common antimicrobial agents used to fight staphylococcal infection. Previous studies reported that methicillin resistance in staphylococci was carried by a specific mobile genetic element (MGE) called staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec), which carries with it several virulence factors as well

The results demonstrated the intervention to be effective in controlling the spread of MRSA, indicating a 2.7% increase in the proportion of patients with MRSA in the control phase and a 1.3% increase in the proportion of patients with MRSA in the interventional phase (Marshall, Richards, & McBryde, 2013,