Staphylococcus aureus is a commonly occurring bacteria. It tends to live on the skin and in the nose. Normally, it is harmless and does not cause problems. Sometimes, it can infect the skin, causing pimples and even boils, but normally these will heal on their own or can be cured with common antibiotics, causing nothing more than some discomfort to the infected person. A staph infection becomes systemic when it spreads into the bloodstream and can then infect other organs in the body.
Mutated Bacteria
Methacillin-resistant Staphylocococcus sureus is a mutated form of the bacteria. It does not respond to conventional antibiotics and is much more likely to become systemic, which is more dangerous than the initial bacteria itself.
Who Does it Affect?
MRSA is more likely to affect people who have recently been hospitalized, are undergoing medical procedures, such as dialysis, or the elderly, because weakened immune systems allow the bacteria to spread much faster and easier. When the person infected is not considered to fit into this category, the infection is said to be community associated.
Signs
The infection usually begins in the skin and the first symptoms include red bumps, pimples or sores; however, it can also be a single sore, known as a boil, that would be reddened and possibly oozing pus, most likely a clear liquid. In MSRA, the sores will not heal and will continue to grow, covering a large area, and become more painful--other symptoms of MRSA include a red, painful, hot rash and fever or chills.
How Does it Become Systemic?
When the bacteria becomes systemic, it has spread from the skin into the systems of the body, meaning it has spread through the bloodstream and also into the bones and muscles; however, it can also spread into different organ systems creating abscesses and damaging them. When it reaches this level, the infection can be deadly.
Prevention and Treatment
The main treatments for this infection are powerful and less commonly used antibiotics such as Vancomycin and Teicoplanin, which must be administered through IV or injection. Since this infection is so hard to treat, prevention and control of the spread of staph is the best technique for dealing with it, which means washing hands often, wearing gloves and gowns when in the presence of the infected, sanitizing rooms and equipment that have come in contact with a patient, and showering thoroughly are among the most common ways to prevent the spread of the staph bacteria.
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