MRSA: Drug-Resistant “Super Bug” Blamed for Life-Threatening Infections

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a form of bacterial staph infection, a potentially deadly and drug-resistant “Superbug” that cannot be controlled with common antibiotics. About 90,000 serious infections and 18,000 deaths in the United States are blamed on MRSA every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infections also are spreading faster and in more locations than it had previously.

For many years, MRSA was primarily confined to hospitals and other healthcare settings, where improper hand-washing by doctors, nurses, and other personnel combined with unsanitary conditions in patient rooms and on medical equipment used among many patients allowed the bacteria to be quickly passed. In 2007, nearly five percent of all people in U.S. health care facilities were infected with MRSA.

More recently, however, MRSA cases have burst out of healthcare settings and increasingly been found in so-called community settings, such as schools, jails, military barracks, gym locker rooms, and other areas where many people congregate or live together.

Commonly-Used Antibiotics Are No Match for MRSA

MRSA is a resistant variation of the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Over time, it has evolved and become able to survive treatment with many common types of antibiotics. Antibiotics commonly given to patients to fight bacterial infections, such as methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, and oxacillin, are no match for MRSA. Instead, doctors must rely on glycopeptide antibiotics, such as Vancomycin and teicoplanin, to treat MRSA infections.

Some Groups at Greater Risks of MRSA Infections

While MRSA can strike just about anyone, anywhere, at anytime, some people are at greater risk of developing MRSA-related infections. Those who are more likely to be a victim of MRSA are:

• Diagnosed with a weakened immune system due to AIDS, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, cancer, or severe asthma

• Athletes in contact sports or weight training

• Young children

• Elderly

• Patients in health care facilities for an extended period of time or making frequent visits to a facility

• Prisoners, jail inmates, military personnel, or otherwise living in confined space with other people

• Surfers or swimmers in ocean waters contaminated with MRSA bacteria

MRSA Symptoms

Symptoms of MRSA commonly begin with small, red bumps resembling pimples, spider bites, or boils on the skin. The rash may be accompanied by a fever and rash.

Within a few days, the bumps increase in size, become more painful to the touch, and eventually advance to become deep, pus-filled boils. It is at this point that a MRSA infection can spread dangerously through the body, reach the blood stream and result in severe, even deadly infections.

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