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MRSA and prevention

“MRSA” What is it and helping prevent it?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is the technical name and while no one thing can prevent it, common sense and an understanding of the bacteria can help.

Staphylococcus Aureus, commonly called staph, are bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Staph may live in people’s noses or on their skin and most of the time do not cause a problem. The bacteria can enter the body through a break in the skin and cause an infection. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infections. Staph can cause serious infections such as post op infections, pneumonia and sepsis. The wide spread overuse of antibiotics has led to some staph bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to antibiotics including methicillin. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections and occur in otherwise healthy people. These may appear as pimples, pustules or boils which are red, swollen, painful, or draining.

Protect yourself by:

• Good Hygiene
• Covering any open wound
• Not sharing personal items
• Clean environment—Clean surfaces that are frequently touched or come in direct contact with peoples skin. Bleach solution 1:100 (new solution daily) may be used to help.

Treatment: Most MRSA skin infections can be effectively treated by drainage of pus with or without antibiotics. If given an antibiotic be sure to take all of them. Unless directed by a physician, students with MRSA should not be excluded from school. Students with active infections should be excluded from activities where skin to skin contact is likely to occur (e.g. sports) until their infections are healed.

Preventing Spread.

• All open wounds should be covered.
• Good hygiene. Hand washing or hand sanitizer.
• Do not share personal items. (towels, washcloths, razors, clippers, clothing, uniforms)

Some common recommendations are:

1. Good Hand washing
2. All wounds/sores should be covered
3. Any wound that appears infected or draining should be referred to a health care provider for evaluation.

The most important health lesson to all and especially children, is good hand hygiene.

Let us know if you have any tips that can be shared and if you suspect that you may have an infection see your health care provider immediately.

Copyright © 2008 MRSA Diagnosis

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