Guide to Hospital Acquired Infections Brought to You by The
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What is MRSA?
MRSA is sometimes erroneously referred to as MRSA Virus. In fact it is a bacteria, and you can learn about MRSA and
MRSA symptoms on this page.
MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), is a form of bacteria from the Staphylococcus aureus (SA) family of germs. The bacteria can actually live on the skin's surface or inside the nose of around thirty percent of the general population without causing any harm. People carrying the bacteria on their skin are considered to be 'colonised', rather than 'infected' as the bacteria are merely on the surface of the body, not inside the body causing problems to tissues or blood.
There is no specific '
MRSA disease', but if the SA bacteria get under the surface of the skin via a cut or wound an infection like a boil or abscess can occur. More seriously, if bacteria enter the blood stream through a wound it can cause
blood poisoning (septicaemia),
heart-valve infection (endocarditis),
urinary tract infection or
pneumonia.
If not adequately cleaned the hospital environment can present many opportunities for MRSA to enter a patient's body via wounds, surgical scars or through the use of equipment such as intravenous drips. The bacteria can be spread from one person to another and in over-crowded hospital wards with over-challenged staff the bug can unwittingly be transferred from patient to patient via staff and visitors hands and equipment.
Elderly patients, those with weakened immune systems, in intensive care or undergoing cancer chemotherapy as well as new born or premature babies are most vulnerable to MRSA infections in hospital, but MRSA rarely causes problems for fit and healthy people.
Although most Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections can be successfully treated with the
methicillin-type antibiotics there are certain strains of the bacteria which are resistant to methicillin (and other antibiotics) and these MRSA strains account for over 25% of SA infections in Ireland.. 'Methicillin' was developed from the antibiotic Penicillin to treat SA infections when bacteria causing the infections had evolved and penicillin was no longer strong enough to treat it. MRSA is no more infectious than other SA infections but patients with severe MRSA infection are twice as likely to die than those with ordinary SA
How do you get MRSA?
MRSA is transmitted from person to person, usually via the hands, but can also be passed on through contact with objects in the environment that have the bacteria on them, such as towels, sheets, clothes, door handles, taps, etc.
However it's important to remember that the vast majority of fit, healthy people will not be affected by the bug as they do not have entry points for the bacteria to penetrate beyond the skin. People who are already in hospital are more susceptible to getting MRSA as they're more likely to have catheter tubes, surgical wounds, or intravenous drips etc. which act as easy entry points for the bacteria.
Who gets MRSA?
Although anyone can be colonized or infected with MRSA, frail, weak, ill, and elderly individuals are at greater risk. While MRSA can be acquired outside hospitals by close contact with MRSA carriers, people in hospital are more likely to get MRSA than fit, healthy people outside. This is because of a number of factors:
- You are weak due to medical treatment or surgery
- You have a weak immune system (elderly people, newborn babies, or people with long term health conditions)
- You have an open wound
- You need to take a lot of antibiotics or may be on high doses of steroids.
- You have a burn or a cut on the skin, or a severe skin condition such as psoriasis or leg ulcers
- You have a catheter or intravenous drip inserted
How to avoid getting MRSA
If you're going to visit someone in hospital, good hand hygiene (thorough washing and drying of the hands or using hand gels) is the single most important method of reducing your risk of getting MRSA.
Hospital staff who come into contact with patients should be particularly vigilant in cleaning their hands between visiting different patients. The use of disposable gloves and fast-acting alcohol or antiseptic rubs helps maintain good hygiene standards. If you are worried about hygiene do not hesitate to ask the nurse or doctor treating you if they've recently cleaned their hands. They will not be offended and it could save you from getting an infection.
If you are going to stay in hospital below are some measures you can take to decrease your risk of getting MRSA:
- Take in your own supplies of soap, hand-wipes, razors, and flannels and keep them in your bedside locker.
- Always wash and dry your hands after using the toilet, and before eating a meal
- Wear slippers when walking around.
- Ask staff if they have cleaned their hands.
- Make sure your room or bed area is regularly cleaned, and report any toilet or bathroom facilities that appear unclean
- Avoid physical contact with other patients. Don't share newspapers or books
- If you are prescribed antibiotics, always finish the course.
- If you have a wound, drip pr a catheter – DO NOT handle or touch it as this may spread bugs from your own hands onto the wound or device and possibly cause an infection.
MRSA infection and its symptoms
Rarely a day goes by without another headline about hospital 'super-bugs' and more specifically MRSA but what exactly is MRSA? Where did it come from, what are MRSA symptoms and why is MRSA so difficult to treat?
MRSA stand as for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and is a form of bacteria from the Staphylococcus aureus (SA) germ family.
MRSA is a subgroup of SA and first appeared in 1961 soon after the introduction of an antibiotic called methicillin (no longer used).
SA bacteria actually live on the skin's surface or inside the nose of around thirty percent of us - without causing any harm. People carrying the SA bacteria are 'colonised', not 'infected', because the bacteria are merely on the surface of the body, not inside harming tissues or blood. However, if SA germs get into the body via cuts or wounds they can cause a skin infection like a boil or abscess, or in more serious cases if bacteria enter the blood stream through a wound they can cause blood poisoning (septicaemia), heart-valve infection (endocarditis), urinary tract infection, pneumonia or wound infections.
What causes MRSA
MRSA can enter the body via wounds, surgical scars, and through the use of equipment such is intravenous drips. The bacteria can also be spread from one wound to another and in over-crowded hospital wards the bug can unwittingly be transferred from patient to patient by hospital staff, patients and visitors.
Staying for a long time in a hospital environment makes patients more vulnerable to picking up a SA infection. Elderly patients, those with weakened immune systems, in intensive care or undergoing cancer chemotherapy as well as new born or premature babies are most vulnerable to MRSA infections in hospital, but MRSA rarely causes problems for fit and healthy people.
MRSA Treatment
It used to be possible to treat SA infections with antibiotics similar to Methicillin. This was developed from the antibiotic, Penicillin to treat SA infections when the bacteria had evolved and Penicillin was no longer strong enough to treat it. However, over the past 50 years or so certain types of SA have developed into ‘super-strains’ which don’t respond to methicillin or other commonly used antibiotics.
These methicillin resistant strains currently make up approx 25% of SA found to cause blood infections in hospital. Health experts treat MRSA infections with newer, stronger antibiotics such as linazolid (zyvox), vancomycin and teicoplanin.
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