The Difficulties of Treating MRSA Essay

“Superbug” is the nickname given to the bacterium MRSA. It is called this because of its resistance to most antibiotics (1). Each year there are approximately 126,000 people hospitalized and 19,000

Using personal items of someone who has MRSA, such as towels, wash cloths, clothes or athletic equipment.

The reason this disease has been able to infect more and more people over time is because MRSA is a strain of staph that has become resistant to certain antibiotics that would normally be used to treat normal staph infections.

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.

Currently it is resistant to, or rather unaffected by, commonly used antibiotics such as methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many others, and is consequently much more challenging to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus—or staph. Some antibiotics still work, but MRSA is constantly adapting, and researchers and developers are having a difficult time keeping up.

Cultures are an effective way of guiding the Infectious Disease specialist to which antibiotics that are to be used to treat the patient with MRSA by looking at the type of strain that the patient has. The culture can also be tested for susceptibility to a variety of antibiotics. Surgery may be required to debride and drain the pus filled skin from the infected area, while antibiotics, such as vancomycin, linezolid, daptomycin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, clindomycin (as well as many other sulfa drugs and tetracyclines) could be prescribed to help eradicate the infection. Some antibiotics that are used to treat MRSA are only available intravenously. Unfortunately, some high-powered antibiotics are developing resistance to MRSA infections. Because of this, Vancomycin is no longer a sure treatment for MRSA due to questions surrounding its effectiveness. Patients that are prescribed antibiotics should never stop taking their antibiotics, even if they are starting to feel better. These infections are extremely dormant and are prone to reoccur if they develop resistance to 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

MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is one of the most recent superbugs to become a health problem. MRSA is a species of Staphylococcus Aureus that is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin and antibiotics like it. Doctors are struggling to find proper treatment because of its resistance to the beta-lactam ring, the core of most antibiotics. The most lethal strain is the CC398 strain, most commonly found on livestock. There are approximately 80,000 invasive MRSA infections and 11,000 deaths every year. (CNN.com)

Hospital settings have harbored a disease-causing organism called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) since the 1960s. However, hospitals aren’t the only settings at risk of a MRSA outbreak. In recent years’ healthy communities have seen a genetically distinct strain of MRSA, called community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). Although this organism has been less resistant to antibiotics, it is more virulent and capable of causing illnesses (Alex & Letizia, 2007). The community should be aware of the risk factors for this infection and understand its signs, symptoms, and management.

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus also referred to as MRSA is a type bacterium that becomes immune to many antibiotics used to treat even the most common infection. MRSA has become an issue in hospitals around the globe as it is known to constanly change over time. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus (MRSA) usually occurs in day care home, hospitals and other related health care facilities. It was reported that in 2005 the majority of all infection related cases came from an antibiotic-resistant bacterium, resulting in a high rate of death (Tacconelli, et al 2007). In 1961 (Enright, et al 2002) methicillin-resistant staphylococcus (MRSA) was first discovered in the United Kingdom and later made its way to Asia and after to the United States.

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

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 (MRSA) has been a type of multidrug resistant organism and staph bacteria known to cause serious infection that can lead to long hospitalizations and death. It can begin as a simple infection on skin or in the lungs, and if left untreated, can lead to traveling to the bloodstream and causing sepsis (“Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2015”). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 33 percent of individuals carry the staph bacteria intranasally and two percent of individuals carry MRSA (“Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2015”). Even though this is a serious issue among healthcare settings all over the country, the number of people affected

This condition is treated with antibiotic medicine. The antibiotic may be taken by mouth or given through an IV tube.

Antibiotics are still the main therapy for treatment MRSA such as clindamycin, moxifloxacin, linezolid, and doxycycline. In severe cases parenterally with vancomycin, linezolid, daptomycin or tigecycline. fusidomic acid, fosfomycin and rifampicin can be used only in special clinical situations due to the development of resistance. Vancomycin and teicoplanin are glycopeptide antibiotics used for the treatment of MRSA infections. Teicoplanin is a structural congener of vancomycin that has a similar activity spectrum but a longer half-life. Due to the low oral absorption of these antibiotics, these agents must be administered intravenously to control systemic infections. Treatment of MRSA infection with vancomycin can be complicated, due to its inconvenient route of administration. Aminoglycosides are not effective against MRSA due to unfavorable pharmacokinetics .β lactam and macrolides in most cases are not effective against MRSA. The majority of serious MRSA infection is recommended to be treated with a combination