Staph:MRSA:whatR VirulenceFactors/treatments/prophylaxis/current Epidemiology?GrowthRequirements of S. aureus?

Question

Methicillin-resistant Staphlococcus aureus: Seeking REPUTABLE Current info. Need websites to reference to verify info. Can you cite your sources with article info or website info comes from.

Answer 1

MRSA is biologically just Staph. aureus. As such, it's major virulence factor is something called "coagulase" which is an enzyme that tends to set off clotting factors and form a fibrin wall around the infected site. For this reason, Staph infections are almost always abscesses, i.e., spaces walled off with a fibrin coated lining, filled with bacteria, necrotic material and white blood cells (in short: pus!). The only thing special about MRSA is the antibiotic resistance.

Staph. aureus (and MRSA) is a facultative anaerobe. This means that it lives under normal atmospheric oxygen tension, but once deprived of oxygen, it can go to 'plan b' and perform a type of anaerobic respiration. This is important for it in the abscess environment which is typically polymicrobial and other obligate aerobes typically use up the oxygen quite rapidly.

MRSA is a rampant nosocomial (hospital acquirred) infection problem. Of hospital acquirred skin/soft tissue infections leading to abscess formation, this one is probably the fastest growing fraction. Historically, it had been limited to infections in that setting, but we are seeing increased numbers of patients coming from the community with Staph. infections that turn out to be MRSA.

The primary treatment for contained infection (i.e., abscess) is drainage. Antibiotics don't get into the abscess space in any reasonable proportion. That being said, the standard treatment for MRSA abscess, in addition to drainage, is appropriate antibiotic coverage. In the past, the mainstay antibiotic treatment for MRSA soft tissue infection was vancomycin IV, dosed at 1g every 12 hours. Levels need to be monitored with this drug as it has a substantial toxicity profile. Now there are alternates, which in my mind are rapidly becoming primary treatments. The most notable of these is linezolid (marketed as Zyvox), which can be given both IV and oral.

The above information is what I know based on being a provider in a busy urban county hospital where MRSA is not rare. I haven't looked anything up for you on the web, and like our colleague "finaldx" mentioned above, you really should not be looking to this medium as a reference source. If you have an assignment, then this is the wrong place to be. The ability to find and evaluate information sources takes time to learn and master. If you are any kind of healthcare provider, it is incumbent upon you to commit to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, which depends primarily on the disciplined and critical evaluation of clinical data. I invite you to enjoy the internet as a medium of entertainment, a place to provoke thoughts and even emotions. I strongly recommend, however, that you do not see it as a fountain of truth. You will be disappointed, but what is far worse, is that your patients will be put at risk.

Answer 2

MRSA as a bacteria Tgat can have relapses and go away for a time. My mom had it. They wante ud to wear gloves, gowns, etc, I refused. Judt practice proper hand washing. Keep away from bodily fluids especially Sputum.

Answer 3

You know, it irritates me enough to see the college students asking someone else to do their homework. I absolutely refuse to do homework in order for them to join a medical profession. You should learn to do your own work, research it and find it yourself, or else you will be one of those nurses who has to have another one hold their hand every day for every move she makes.
The work is too important for slackers.

Answer 4

you can look up all sorts of information on pubmed, the NIH's database of peer reviewed journal articles.