Killer MRSA?

[Michele]

My sis called me and she is really concerned about the school closures and the MRSA outbreaks. She has a janitor at her school that has MRSA and she has orders from the state that detail cleaning/disinfecting protocols.

I rarely watch the news but she said it's all over that this "super bug is going to kill more people than AIDS."

I tried to ask Russ about it but he just mumbled something about "community acquired" and "he probably would culture positive" and he kinda brushed me off.

My sis was told that a person becomes infected and then doesn't ever clear the infection and will remain infected for life....with recurrent relapses of boils that just pop up all over if the person gets stressed or sick or anything.....the relapses are kinda random.

My understanding was that you can clear most strains of MRSA with vanc, etc, but that it might require inpatient treatments/IV drugs, etc. This random relapse of boils sounds more like a latent herpes virus type thing.....

Anyone know more about it? Or can ask their spouse for me? My sis is freaked!


Of course, I'm sure the news isn't blowing this way out of proportion or anything.

[DCJenn]

Re: Killer MRSA?

In my part of the world, MRSA is old news. It's VERY common in large institutions- at least it used to be. That's one of the reasons why most places don't have wooden chairs anymore- the MRSA ick gets into the wood grain.

Jenn

[Meenah]

Re: Killer MRSA?

Michelle,
Would you like me to send you the UptoDATE link? I think it also includes a 30 day subscription.

[Michele]

Re: Killer MRSA?

I'd love the link, Luanne!

Jenn, I guess that's where I was thinking....old news....she made it sound like there was a new one or something.

[Meenah]

Re: Killer MRSA?

PM your email address to me. I can send it to Russ too and he will also get the 30 day subscription, just activate them one at a time to spread it out.

[Deebs]

Re: Killer MRSA?

From DH:
There IS a difference between community acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) and hospital acquired MRSA (traditionally referred to as MRSA). The community acquired strains are "somewhat" easy to kill right now with a number of readily available oral antibiotics. One combination is bactrim and rifampin, another is a new drug (so VERY expensive) - linezolid. There are also a number of new IV agents which work very well for significant infections.

There has been a significant rise in CA-MRSA but this is generally NOT a dangerous infection. True to form, the media is mixing terms. MRSA will kill many people this year. It has for many years now. MRSA often leads to sepsis and multi-system organ failure in hospitalized patients. Hospitals have, for many years, worked hard to isolate both infected persons and carriers of MRSA to prevent this. Back when AIDS was still referred to as GRID, hospitals were working against MRSA. The "new" CA-MRSA is not the same thing. CA-MRSA is a far more benign bug.

As for the recurrences, there are "bugs" that naturally live on your skin. Staphylococcus Aureus is one of these "natural flora". Regardless if these bacteria are methicillin resistant (MRSA) or not, they can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections, such as pimples, impetigo, boils, cellulitis and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, Toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and septicemia. Now, if a person becomes "colonized" with MRSA, then yes, they will have recurrent MRSA infections. But, that same person could have recurrent infections from Staph Aureus without the methicillin resistance.

Here are two little known (at least to news people today) facts:

"Antibiotic resistance in S. aureus was almost unknown when penicillin was first introduced in 1943; indeed, the original petri dish on which Alexander Fleming observed the antibacterial activity of the penicillium mold was growing a culture of S. aureus. By 1950, 40% of hospital S. aureus isolates were penicillin resistant; and by 1960, this had risen to 80%." (from: Chambers HF (2001). "The changing epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus?". Emerg Infect Dis 7 (2): 178-82.).

"Today, S. aureus has become resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. In the UK, only 2% of all S. aureus isolates are sensitive to penicillin with a similar picture in the rest of the world, due to a penicillinase (a form of ?-lactamase). The ?-lactamase-resistant penicillins (methicillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin and flucloxacillin) were developed to treat penicillin-resistant S. aureus and are still used as first-line treatment. Methicillin was the first antibiotic in this class to be used (it was introduced in 1959), but only two years later, the first case of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was reported in England." (from: Jevons MP (1961). "Celbenin-resistant staphylococci". BMJ 1: 124-5.)

In short, the reality is that yes, MRSA is a problem, but those likely to die from it are those persons already in the hospital with compromised immune systems, not young, otherwise healthy, people.

And now, you all know that my DH really is a nerd!

[DCJenn]

Re: Killer MRSA?

In short, the reality is that yes, MRSA is a problem, but those likely to die from it are those persons already in the hospital with compromised immune systems, not young, otherwise healthy, people.

(which of course are my world, too- they're just not in hospitals, they're in large institutions...which are just as nasty)

Jenn

[DCJenn]

Re: Killer MRSA?

Ah, another Post chat junkie!

(It's my treat to myself for doing X numbers of minutes of work...sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 30!)

Jenn

[DCJenn]

Re: Killer MRSA?

Good God....

Talk about overkill.

The FLA administrators are welcome to come sit in our lobby...

We're probably an ID guys dream...

Jenn

[Michele]

Re: Killer MRSA?

Lily, my sis teaches in Florida (north)...it (the panic) hasn't hit my mom's school in south Florida yet.