Overview:
At cellular level the strain of staph targets the body’s white blood cells. Without white blood cells it is harder to fight off infections or diseases. The human body also contains cells called persisters. Persister cells are made of all pathogens and their only job is to survive. These cells do anything they can to survive anything which explains why most antibiotics do not work against MRSA. MRSA is more difficult to treat because the cells do not know how to respond to the antibiotics given to treat it. The bacteria is more likely to come when medicine is given too many times or not used correctly. This makes the bacteria change so that the antibiotics that are given doesn’t make them work.
History:
Staphylococcus was introduced
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It can either be hospital acquired or community associated. If it is hospital acquired then it has formed due to the bacteria entering the body after a type of surgical procedure. If it is community associated it can spread in a few ways. MRSA can be spread by skin to skin contact. This infection can also spread by touching contaminated objects that are contaminated with the …show more content…
Sometimes medicines are not needed if the case isn’t serious. If the infection needs serious attention, doctors will first cut or drain the infected area and then determine if there is any bacterial resistance to antibiotics. If the bacteria is resistant to any type of antibiotic then the doctor will not prescribe any to the patient.
Prevention:
There are many ways that MRSA can be prevented. The best way to fight off the bacteria that cause this infection is to simply have good hygiene. To prevent this infection you should always wash your hands and use hand sanitizer frequently. Make sure to shower after any kind of physical activity to get rid of the bacteria on your body that appears when you sweat. Also, keep cuts or scrapes covered and cleaned out until they have fully healed and avoid touching anyone else’s open wounds. It is also not a good idea to share personal items like clothes, towels, and razors with other people.
Current
Health care providers and visitors are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow strict hand hygiene procedures. Contaminated rooms, surfaces, and laundry items are properly disinfected to prevent the spread of MRSA. In addition to policy and procedures, patient teaching is also helpful for preventing exposure and spread of MRSA. As aforementioned earlier, hand hygiene is key to prevent exposer or transmission of the bacteria. To properly wash your hand effectively, first scrub hands rapidly for at least 15 seconds. Next, use a disposable towel to dry them and another towel to turn off the faucet. In addition, hand sanitizer that contains 62 percent or more of alcohol may be an adequate substitute when the individual does not have access to soap and water (Mayo Clinic Staff,
Using personal items of someone who has MRSA, such as towels, wash cloths, clothes or athletic equipment.
When penicillin was released to the public in 1944, it was a miracle drug. Infections that had been killers were suddenly treatable. Doctors recommended it generously, both for illnesses that needed it and illnesses that didn’t. Before long, however, it took much stronger doses to see penicillin’s effects. When the antibiotic arms race began in 1944, most physicians assumed that new antibiotics would be discovered or created to keep up with the evolving resistance in bacteria, but the bacteria are constantly evolving new defenses and doctors are starting to run low on antibiotic ammunition. MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is one of many types of bacteria
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a bacterium that is resistant to many available high- level beta-lactam antibiotics, which include penicillins, “antistaphylococcal” penicillins and cephalosporins. Staphyloccoci are the most important bacteria that cause disease in humans. MRSA is sometimes branded as a nosocomial infection as it usually plagues patients that are receiving treatment in a hospital. The skin is the most common site of infection, where MRSA can cause cellulitis, folliculitis, or boils in the skin, but can also commonly be found in the nose, underarm, groin, upper respiratory tract, intestine, vagina and rectal areas of the body. MRSA infections occur with there is a break in the skin that allows the Methicillin resistant
MRSA is spread by contact, so for example, touching another person who has it on the skin, or by touching objects the bacteria has transferred to. These particular infections are frequent amongst those with weak immune systems and those in hospitals, nursing homes, care centers, etc., because the superbugs crop up around surgical wounds or invasive devices such as catheters or implanted feeding tubes. The
Staff with MRSA with skin disorders: Culture samples should be collected from the throat, nose, perineum and any skin disorders of the staffs on that day when the staff member is discovered as MRSA-positive (day 1). Additionally, treatment of carrier staff takes place on detecting as positive. Gathering of control cultures should have done on the 10th, 15th and 20th day. Employees with MRSA infections should follow the same procedures as they would for any infection. Excepting that, the employee underlie behind an outbreak, MRSA, by itself, should not be a reason for restricting work. Infected employees who are working should cover their wound and follow the normal precautions (WannetW; 2001). Employees with minor lesions should cover
Residents who are infected with MRSA, or similar superbug are treated with standard contact precautions while being given their medications.These include:
Carla, your post on community acquired MRSA infection, detection, and treatment of the condition is spot on. We all walk around with a variety of bacteria on our skin, especially healthcare workers. As healthcare professionals we are in constant contact with patients with various skin conditions including MRSA so it important to follow guidelines set by our institutions to limit the exposure to ourself and other patients. In addition, to the demographic that you mention in your post at risk for acquiring MRSA, younger non-exposed hospitalized patients are at risk as well.
MRSA(Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a bacteria that is resistant to most of all antibiotics. Staff germs are more often spreaded by touching. When the staff germs enter the body it can afffect bones, joints, the blood, or any organ. So if you get MRSA it is very important to get it checked on before it get out of hand. If you have a weak immune system your more than likely to get it.
Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive coccal bacterium which is estimated to have colonised 20-30% of the human population.1,2,3 S. aureus is normally found in the anterior nares and mucous membranes of these individuals. For the majority, this is not a problem as these people are colonised, not infected.2,3 However S. aureus is an opportunistic pathogen and if it contaminates a breach in the skin or mucous membranes, it can go on to infect any tissue in the body.3 Infection may lead to serious life threatening diseases such as pneumonia.4 Over time strains of S. aureus were able to develop resistance to antibiotics, resulting in strains known as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Both health care-associated and community-associated strains of MRSA still respond to certain antibiotics. In some cases, antibiotics may not be necessary. For example, doctors may drain a superficial abscess caused by MRSA rather than treat the infection with drugs. In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA often are placed in contact precautions as a measure to prevent the spread of MRSA. Visitors and health care workers caring for people in isolation may be required to wear protective garments and must follow strict hand hygiene procedures. Contaminated surfaces and laundry items should be properly disinfected. Preventing MRSA includes careful hand washing remains your best defense against germs. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer containing at least 62 percent alcohol for times when you don't have access to soap and water. Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with sterile, dry bandages until they heal. The pus from infected sores may contain MRSA, and keeping wounds covered will help prevent the bacteria from spreading. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or more commonly, MRSA can be transmitted in two separate ways, therefore giving it two different names. One way it is spread is by way of hospitals, giving it the name health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). Another way it is spread is through busy areas with a lot of crowding, therefore naming it community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). MRSA is considered an emerging disease because the prevalence of the disease has increased over the past few decades.
There are several important steps in preventing the spread of MRSA: washing hands before and after patient contact, using gloves appropriately, covering any cuts on the hands, maintaining healthy hands, avoiding overcrowding in hospital departments, maintaining a clean environment, and prudent antibiotic prescribing (3). Hand washing is the most effective way to keep from spreading infections. The CDC recommends that you spend 20 seconds scrubbing your hands with soap while washing your hands (1). You can sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice all the way through also (1). If soap and water are not available, the CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol (1). This should not be used as a first line of defense. Hand washing is always the best way to get rid of harmful bacterium. Gloves and gowns are another great way to create a barrier between you and the bacteria. Proper removal of gloves and gown are vitally important. If your gloves are contaminated with MRSA, and you remove them improperly, you have completely defeated the point of even putting the gloves on. Once a surface is contaminated with MRSA, it can live prolonged periods of time unless removed through cleaning (5). For contaminated surfaces, you would want to use a disinfectant. Choosing the proper disinfectant, along with following the directions of use on the packaging, will rid the surface form microbes. It is extremely important to follow the directions on the packaging of the disinfectant because each disinfectant is different. One may need you to keep the surface wet for 2 minutes, while the other requires the surface to be kept wet for 10 minutes. If the surface isn’t kept wet for the allotted time, the surface will not be disinfected and will continue to contaminate
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Siegel, Rhinehart, Jackson, & Chiarello, 2017) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (Aureden et al., 2010) recommend contact precautions for the prevention of MRSA transmission. Contact precautions include isolating the patient in a private room (or placing physical barriers between patients) and the mandatory use of gowns, masks, and gloves during patient interactions (Siegel, Rhinehart, Jackson, & Chiarello, 2017; Ofner-Agostini et al., 2007).
As nurses, taking care of patients with MRSA can be seen in everyday practice. It can be seen in patients with sepsis from an infected wound, patients who have pneumonia, or patients who only have a colonization for it (“Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2015”). Regardless if it’s colonization or an active infection, and the source of the infection, proper policies and procedures are in place to reduce the transmission of MRSA to other patients in the hospital or nursing home setting. This includes performing proper hand hygiene and standard precautions, as well as wearing protective gown and gloves when entering the patient’s room. It is very important to adhere to these policies and procedures and educate others on the importance of these policies and procedures to reduce the transmission of MRSA to others.