Can someone please tell me what EXACTLY is MRSA?

Answer 1

MRSA is a very icky drug reistant form of a staph infection.

Symptoms depend on the part of the body affected.

MRSA most often appears as a skin infection, like a boil or abscess. It also might infect a surgical wound. In either case, the area would be:

Swollen
Red
Painful
Pus-filled
Many people with a staph skin infection mistake it for a spider bite.

Staph that infects the lungs and causes pneumonia can lead to:

Shortness of breath
Fever
Chills
MRSA can cause a myriad of other symptoms since it can also infect the urinary tract or the bloodstream.

Very rarely, staph can result in necrotizing fasciitis, or "flesh-eating" bacterial infections. These are serious skin infections that spread very quickly. While frightening, necrotizing fasciitis caused by staph is rare, with only a handful of reported cases.

Answer 2

MRSA has been well-described in answers above. It used to be the case that it showed up in nurse home facilities, prisons, and hospitals almost exclusively. Additionally it was frequently the case that those affected were immuno-comprimised.

Today, however, it can affect nearly anyone. There have been significant outbreaks in locker rooms and can randomly show up in the general public.

These bacteria have mutated to be resistant to the mechanism of action used by methicillin (all "cillins") which attack the cell wall of the bacteria causing it to lyse (break). There are several antibiotics that are still effective in treating this bacteria. It is a bacteria that would most likely be responsible for a skin infection or blood infections - more rarely responsible for other infections like pneumonia or urinary tract infections. Often a combination of antibiotics are used to treat it. It is extremely important to completely treat this infection as a partially treated infection is likely to mutate to be resistent to even more mechanisms that antibiotics use to defeat these bacteria.

Who's responsible? A combination of factors. In the past some doctors have been overly liberal in prescribing antibiotics. This alone would not be enough however, you also have to have patients who do not take their entire Rx - leaving opportunities for bugs to mutate. Finally there are patients who are immunocomprimised and do not have a competent enough immune system to even fight off an infection when adequately treated - leaving bugs a chance to mutate. All of these factors have contributed.

In my experience, it is rare that a medical provider is so lazy that they do not care to diagnose an illness properly - in fact it is MORE medically risky to not do a thorough evaluation to diagnose an illness, than to Rx an antibiotic for everything. Remember every Rx creates its own risk - like allergies and side effects that can create lawsuits too.

Finally, MRSA may be present (in small numbers) on a perfectly healthy persons skin or nasal passages - without causing serious infection for the host. It reminds us that washing your hands thoroughly when visiting sick relatives, the elderly, and infants is very important.

Good luck.

Answer 3

MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant or Multi-antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. These strains can be created by bad medical practice such as over-prescribing antibiotics or patients not taking the drugs long enough to get rid of the disease. Instead this encourages the bacteria to become tougher.
Treating patients with drug resistant bacteria is beyond the pocket of many developing countries. The cost of treatment can rise to hundred fold for multi-drug resistant bacteria.
The multi drug resistant strains are often fatal and have mortality rates that are comparable with those which existed before the development of antibiotics. Older patients above 65 who are admitted to the hospitals for minor ailments, may be infected with MRSA and die later.
Please see the questions and answers on MRSA in this website itself.

Answer 4

Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus. Its a disease you can get in hospitals only. Methicillin is a drug, staph is a potentially deadly infection. Vancomycin is usually given in this situation. Its important to monitor for MRSA because it can do major damage.

Answer 5

It's what happens thanks to the medical system you have in the US because every time you go to a doctor, they don't want their asses sued so they send you home with an antibiotic to cover their lazy asses. So as a result you have MRSA which is a mutated super bug which resists antibiotics and often will kill you, especially if your body is very immuno-compromised.

It's primarily spread through the hospitals thanks to unsanitary practices (people not washing thier hands between patients, after bathrooms, entering hospital, etc. etc.) and usually because patients who have it are in rooms with patients who dont and those poor saps get it too.

Solution to many problems would be universal basic preventative health care for most people so get off your butts and lobby for this in your country.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

It's an infection. Common in hospitals, acute care centers and some LTC facilities.

Answer 8

It is a staph infection:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRSA

Answer 9

get treatment in a uk hospital and you will experience it at first hand....god bless the british health service.....


oh yeah.. i work for them so i should know!!

Answer 10

my royal shi tty as s