The Plague

It seems as though we have been stricken with a plague of sorts.  Well not really, but every one looks at you like you do when you say MRSA (MerSA).

On Tuesday I had to take Ducky to ambulatory care because of the pimple-like abscess on her right thigh/buttock crease.  In a matter of 9 hours it grew 3x larger & was red, hot & tight - the poor girl could barely hobble & it hurt her to sit.  It had to be lanced in order to relieve that pressure & altho it hurt, she was sooo much happier when it was all said and done.  BUT here is the part that gets me, upon first look at the abscess the staff sort of looked at us like "OMG it's MRSA & how in the heck did the baby get it" 

Well what they don't realize is that by now I am a pro at dealing with this crap & that it's not because we are dirty or I don't care that she got this.  Almost 4 years ago is when, as a family, we began to deal with this.  B had an abscess on his leg that he tried to self treat, and ended up in the hospital for a week and a gapping hole from where they had to cut it out.  Since then, he as had several other, smaller, abscesses and I have had two.  I know that I am a colonized with MRSA and wouldn't be surprised if I am a carrier - and I'm pretty sure B is also.

Then to top it off, much of the public is very under educated about what MRSA is.  Their knowledge is limited to the outbreak scares, word of mouth, & internet searches.  People, we all have staph that grows on our skin & unfortunately thru antibiotic abuse (over use, not taking as directed) there are now strains that are very resistent to some types of antibiotics - that is MRSA.

So in effort I am sharing some facts about MRSA.  I am trying to locate the one site that we use at work that has a WONDERFUL booklet about living with MRSA and other fact sheets.  But for now here is this:

MRSA is caused by a strain of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria or usually called “staph“. S. aureus is a common type of bacteria that normally lives on the skin and sometimes in the nose. MRSA is difficult to treat than most staph Because it’s resistant to some commonly used and powerful antibiotics such as penicillin (Bacteria may develop resistance to antibiotics when they are used but are not needed or not taken as directed.) Staph aureus is common and generally about 30 percent of all people are colonized with staph at any given time.
 
Many ordinary people already have MRSA bacteria living on their skin or in their noses. These people are known as carriers, they do not showed any symptoms, but they do carry the disease to other people ( non-carriers ). While 25 percent to 30 percent of the population carries staph, it is estimated that 1 percent carries MRSA, according to CDC.


Normally the bacteria they carry do not cause major health problems unless the bacteria manage to enter the body through wounds or open skin. Even then, it usually only result in minor skin conditions, such as acne pimples. However, when the susceptible populations identified above come into direct contact with carriers, there is a large potential for them to develop severe staph infections and serious disease.