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Skin Infections and MRSA

Contents of this Article

What is S. aureus and MRSA Who Gets it? What's it Look Like? Who's at Increased Risk? MRSA Diagnosis

Treatment for Staph and MRSA Infections Prevention of Staph or MRSA Skin Infections Can I Get a Staph or MRSA Infection at a Health Club? History of S. aureus and MRSA Common Skin Infections Caused By Staph

Treatment for Staph and MRSA Infections

Most staph and MRSA infections are treatable with antibiotics. Healthcare providers can treat many S. aureus skin infections by draining the abscess or boil and may not need to use antibiotics. Draining of skin boils or abscesses should only be done by a healthcare provider.

For mild to moderate skin infections, incision and drainage by a healthcare provider is the first-line treatment. Before prescribing antibiotics, your provider will consider the potential for antibiotic resistance. Thus, if MRSA is suspected, your provider will avoid treating you with the beta-lactam antibiotics that are not effective in killing the staph bacteria. For severe infection, doctors will typically use vancomycin intravenously.

If after visiting your healthcare provider the infection is not getting better after a few days, contact them again. If other people you know or live with get the same infection tell them to go to their healthcare provider.

It is possible to have a staph or MRSA skin infection come back (recur) after it is cured. To prevent this from happening, follow your healthcare provider's directions while you have the infection, and follow the prevention steps (mentioned above) after the infection is gone.

If you have a staph or MRSA skin infection, you can prevent spreading the infection to others by following these steps:

• Cover Your Wound
  Keep wounds that are draining or have pus covered with clean, dry bandages. Follow your healthcare provider's instructions on proper care of the wound. Pus from infected wounds can contain staph and MRSA, so keeping the infection covered will help prevent the spread to others. Bandages or tape can be discarded with the regular trash.
• Clean Your Hands
  You, your family, and others in close contact should wash their hands frequently with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after changing the bandage or touching the infected wound.
• Do Not Share Personal Items
  Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, washcloths, razors, clothing, or uniforms that may have had contact with the infected wound or bandage. Wash sheets, towels, and clothes that become soiled with water and laundry detergent. Drying clothes in a hot dryer, rather than air-drying, also helps kill bacteria in clothes.
• Talk to Your Doctor
  Tell any healthcare providers who treat you that you have or had a staph or MRSA skin infection.

Healthcare providers are fighting back against MRSA infection by tracking bacterial outbreaks and by investing in products, such as antibiotic-coated catheters and gloves that release disinfectants.

References:
1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - www.cdc.gov/
2) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - www3.niaid.nih.gov/