MRSA, Very important ????

Question

My boyfriend has had MRSA, i guess for like a week now, only we didnt know it until this morning, we had to wait for the results i have been the one cleaning his dressing and his infection with q-tips. I have a 7 month old son here, how do we know that we dont have it yet???

what would be our symptoms???? if we caught it from him??

he says the pain is going up his leg

Answer 1

It sounds like it might be a bit more worrisome than the doctors first told you. If the pain is going up from the infection further up his leg, it is quite possible that it is in his blood stream, which is VERY dangerous. You probably should go back to the doctor or even straight to the hospital for his well-being. As far as you all are concerned, make sure you wash your hands for at least 30 straight seconds after cleaning him or even touching anything he has been around, and dry with disposable paper towels, rubbing hard enough to remove excess bacteria. Soap can only do so much, and the rubbing action of the paper towel can help greatly in reducing your chances of getting it.

Answer 2

MRSA is methicillin (a type of penicillin) resistant Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to many more types of antibiotics that "regular" Staphylococcus aureus, and the antibiotic your boyfriend has been taking will probably be changed. Staphylococcus aureus lives normally on the skin without causing infection on 7 out of every 10 people. The best thing to do to prevent the spread of any infection, including MRSA, is to wash your hands with warm, soapy water after changing the bandage, make sure the wound stays bandaged, and to dispose of the used bandages and q-tips properly. As long as you and your son show no signs if infection, you don't need to worry about it. If you have any questions, ask your or your boyfriend's doctor.

Answer 3

MRSA rarely, if ever, presents a danger to the general public. It is no more dangerous or virulent than methicillin-sensitive S. aureus but it is more difficult to treat. This bacterium is usually confined to hospitals and in particular to vulnerable or debilitated patients. These include patients in intensive care units, burns units, surgical and orthopaedic wards. Some nursing homes have experienced problems with this bacterium. MRSA does not pose a risk to the health of hospital staff , unless they are suffering from a debilitating disease, or family members of an affected patient or their close social or work contacts. Therefore the friends or family of such a patient need not take any special precautions and should not be discouraged from normal social contact.

Colonisation with MRSA in the absence of illness or clinical evidence of infection may be treated with surface applied agents. This includes using special antibiotics, eg mupirocin, applied inside the nose, as well as washing, bathing and hair washing with disinfectants eg chlorhexidine. These measures will help reduce the possibility of the patient becoming infected or spreading the bacterium to another patient. Where infection is present, antibiotics commonly used to treat methicillin-sensitive S. aureus such as flucloxacillin, erythromycin and the cephalosporins, are not effective and the patient will require treatment with other antibiotics such as vancomycin or teicoplanin. These last two antibiotics are expensive, may be toxic and have to be given by intravenous infusion. Patients infected with MRSA must therefore be treated in hospital. This is only one of the reasons why considerable effort is made to try and prevent the spread of this organism.

Most patients from whom MRSA is isolated are colonised with this organism rather than infected. Colonisation means the presence of the organism on the skin, or in the nose, or in the back of the throat but without any illness. However, if the patient also has a fever and inflammation associated with the presence of MRSA then they are considered to be infected. A proportion of patients become infected particularly if they have been put at greater risk, such as following an operation, or have a malignancy, or the presence of a bladder catheter, intravenous infusion or surgical drain. These patients may then develop illnesses similar to those caused by methicillin-sensitive S. aureus such as wound and skin infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and bacteraemia or 'blood poisoning'.

Scrupulous handwashing by hospital staff before and after contact with patients and before any procedure, is the single most important infection control measure. It is most likely to prevent spread of MRSA from one patient to another, or from patient to member of staff who may subsequently pass the bacterium on to other patients. Patients with MRSA should be physically isolated in a single room with the door remaining closed and the room regularly damp dusted, or they should be nursed in a special ward away from other non-infected patients. The patient's notes should be clearly labelled 'MRSA' so that this type of accommodation is provided if and when they are admitted to hospital at any time in the future. It is important that the clinician looking after the patient in hospital notifies the general practitioner. If this has not already been done, then the patient or their family should mention to their general practitioner that they are carrying MRSA. This information should also be passed to any hospital to which the patient may be admitted in the future to ensure physical separation or isolation immediately on admission and hence reduce the possibility of spread to others. The use of antibiotics such as those applied inside the nose and bathing procedures previously described, will also help to reduce the risk of spread. Finally, when such a patient is discharged from hospital, their room should be comprehensively cleaned and all linen and other clinical waste disposed of in special bags.

The symptoms of MRSA infection depend on where you've been infected.

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 look:

Swollen
Red
Painful
Pus filled
Many people who actually have staph skin infections often mistake it for a spider bite.

If staph infects the lungs and causes pneumonia, you might have:

Shortness of breath
Fever
Chills
MRSA can cause many other symptoms since it can 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. There have only been a handful of reported cases.

Call your doctor if:
In most cases, MRSA is easily treated. But since MRSA infection can be serious or -- rarely -- fatal, don't ignore signs of infection. See your health care provider.

If you are already being treated for an infection, watch for signs that your medicine isn't working. If you are taking an antibiotic, call your doctor if

The infection is no better after three or four days
The infection keeps getting worse
You develop a fever, or your fever gets worse
People who are ill or have a compromised immune system have a higher risk of getting MRSA. If you have a condition that lowers your immunity, call your doctor right away if you think that you might have an infection.

Answer 4

My grandmother has it and it is highly contagious, and very hard to treat with antibiotics.
I suggest speaking with your doctor to test for it in you and your son.
Be very careful when cleaning it, wash your hands and dispose of the dressing in a separate container. Also, was his clothes separately as well.
Sounds a bit drastic, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 5

To answer your second question:
The symptoms include chills, sweats
and spiking fevers. I had a MRSA
infection last summer that I got from
surgery. To get rid of it, I had to take
IV antibiotics for a month and oral
meds for 2 months. YUCKKK!!

Answer 6

it is me again.
keep the dressing on the wound at all times. wash your hands thoroughly. throw old bandages in a bag and tie it up so others can't get contaminated and place inside your garbage container.

Answer 7

You don't know for sure until symptoms occur. Quarantine yourselves to be absolutely sure. Call your doctor immediately and see how soon you and your son can be tested.

Answer 8

you don't know until you start showing symptoms.