MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)

The Superbug

Often cited as being one of the first superbugs known to man, the reason it got this name is because half of the antibiotics that could treat the infection don't work. This is due to the infection itself being resistant to a broad-spectrum group of antibiotics called Beta-lactam.

Most common in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and care homes, people who have low immune systems and invasive devices such as a catheter and open wounds are more susceptible.

Symptoms

If you contract MRSA, it is not at first noticeable, and lays on your skin. If it gets any deeper than your skin, the symptoms include:

• swelling
• warmth
• pain
• pus
• redness, which may be less visible on darker skin

How Would I Get MRSA?

MRSA can live on a person and affects around 1 in 30 people. Where it resides is usually in the armpits, nose, groin, or buttocks. This is what is known as colonisation - a carrier of MRSA.

So, how do you get it?

You can get MRSA through the following:

• touching someone who has it
• sharing items like towels, sheets and clothes with someone that already has MRSA
• touching other surfaces already infected with MRSA

If you get MRSA, you may not notice it at first, as it lays dormant on your skin. This could also make it go away naturally after a few hours, days or weeks, depending on your body's hygiene regime. If it goes deeper than your skin, it can cause irritation and become more serious.

Here is a YouTube video from Cognito that explains about MRSA:

Staying in Hospital

So, as mentioned before, you can get it when you stay in hospital for any length of time. People staying in hospital are at higher risk of getting it because:

• there's usually a way for the infection to enter the body - an open wound, burn, feeding tube, drip into a vein or urinary catheter
• there may be other serious health issues, having a lower immune system
• there are a lot more people in the environment, meaning the bacteria can spread easily

Interesting fact: MRSA also has a non-hospital variant, called Community associated MRSA (Ca-MRSA), which starts like impetigo and hurts.

Screening and Treatment

There are several ways to detect MRSA. If you're going in for a stay at hospital, you will usually have a pre-admission check done by the nurse, who will swab you over your skin, and the results will return within a few days. Then, you will be notified as to whether you have it or not.

Treatments include one of the following:

• applying antibacterial cream inside your nose 3 times a day for 5 days
• washing with antibacterial soap for up to 5 days
• changing your towel, sheets, and clothes every day during treatment, and the washing done separately from others during this time