MRSA: The Quiet Killer
MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through touch or contact. This infection, which can cause painful skin lesions and/or enter the bloodstream, is a staff infection that is resistant to antibiotics normally used to fight infection. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA infections claim at least 18,000 lives per year, which is more deaths than even the AIDS virus. Others that survive the infection are often left with crippling injuries.
Six out of seven people infected with MRSA contract it at a health-care facility, many of which are nursing homes. Sadly, there is a new danger brewing on the horizon known as CA-MRSA, or community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. CA-MRSA is found in common, every day life and affects healthy individuals. CA-MRSA appears as an infection of the skin and tissue and resembles a pimple or abscess. It may drain pus or fluid and can be red, swollen and warm and tender to touch. These infections are appearing frequently in people who play contact sports, such as football or wrestling. In fact, in 2003, it was reported that nine percent of the St. Louis Rams football team, which is five out of fifty-eight players, had eight occurrences of this strain of MRSA. So far, this strain of MRSA is easier to treat than the MRSA infection frequently found in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities.
There are ways to help prevent occurrences of CA-MRSA. Prevention methods include covering wounds, using hexachlorophene 3% (an antibacterial skin cleaner), discouraging the sharing of person items, such as towels or multiuse lotions, routine cleaning of equipment, and general good hygiene.
Deaths from MRSA infections can often be avoided through simple tests. The first test - a nasal swab test - is quick and painless and its cost is approximately $20. It allows medical providers to see who is a carrier of the MRSA virus and who is actually infected. It would allow the infected person to be isolated and treated. A newer test, known as BD GeneOhm StaphSR Assay, was approved by the FDA recently and is the first rapid blood test available for MRSA screening. Results are available after approximately two hours.
Detection and prevention seem simple, right? Not really. There is no nationwide mandatory testing procedure in place. Some providers feel that screening is unnecessary and that the infection can be controlled through hand-washing, protective garments, and sterilization of equipment. Other providers feel that if people are generally screened upon admission to a hospital facility, then it could be pinpointed as to the origin of the infection.
