MRSA Question?

It is perfectly safe for your niece unless she has some debilitating problem to start with. HEALTHY people have no problems with MRSA

Hospital staff have to wear masks, gloves and in some cases a cover gown to protect other patient from a cross contamination to other UNHEALTHY patients.

I work a medical floor with many MRSA patients

I think if your niece has not had direct contact with this other student she should be fine. One of the problems with MRSA is that it has now jumped from hospitals to being a community aquired infection. It is a serious staph infection because so many antibiotics are now less effective, hence the term "resistent". All other info posted pretty much covers what this bacteria is and what it does. Basically, the healthier the person is when exposed, the better the chance of fighting off the infection or not even coming down with it. Immunocompromised (cancer, HIV, diabetics and others) are at greatest risk if exposed.

The main problem with Staph infections comes after operations because the bacteria are able to get deep into the tissue. This might shock you, but somewhere in the region of 1 in 3 adults has MRSA as part of their normal flora - this is where most hospital cases come from. It is perfectly safe for the school to be open because Staphylococcus aureus is what we call an opotunistic parasite. In normal conditions it is not infectious. Only, as one of the other posters pointed out, in immune deficent people (ie people who had an operation or the elderly) is it a problem.

Feel free to e-mail me for more info or check out this site.

http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/

This is a severe Staph infection that is also known a a "super bug". Common in places such as nursing homes and jails. Depending on who you ask it can be very contagious. If you have a good immune system chances are you won't catch it.

Normally is a person is infected with MRSA then they shouldn't be around other people as there is no known cure and people who have it have a high mortality rate.

For more info on MRSA look it up under it's full name: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

it is usually not a problem to healthy individuals. Historically, staph infections begin only after the individual has suffered a skin break or open wound. Recently, due to institutional overuse of antibiotics, strains of staphylococcus aureus have developed drug resistance. If an individual has a weak immune response to the bacteria, a MRSA infection can result even with no apparent open wound. The symptoms can range from skin boils to necrotizing fasciitis, popularly known as flesh-eating disease. MRSA infections are typically combatted with vancomycin, however, vancomycin-resistant staphyloccocus has recently appeared.

There are two kinds of MRSA - contact and airborne. Contact means you have to touch the other person and have an open wound for it it be contagious. Airborne is extremely contagious and can get everyone in breathing distance of the affected person.

The worst part about MRSA is that it can lie dormant in your body for years before it crops up. It sounds gross, but it lives in the nose.

Normally, healthy people aren't in too much danger, but you never know.

The antibiotics to get rid of this disease are extremely expensive!

Good luck to you!

MRSA is extremely contagious unless it is encapsulated inside of the body; not in the respiratory system or on a wound. Vancomycin is used to treat this disease as other antibiotics are useless. I would report this to the school immediately before it spreads like wild fire. It can kill and it's very unsafe to have this person in this situation. Please call the school and the health department immediately! Godloveya.

i had mrsa and it is not something to take lightly..always make sure you keep your self clean i.e. washing your hands frequently.keep a bottle of hand sanitizer with you at all times... and disinfect objects you use alot frequently.mine became apparent when i had a huge boil on the side of my face and 1 on my arm..they are painful.antiobiotics are the only way to treat this.it is easier to aquire in populated places such as school as mine was first noticed when i did some time in jail...

its not that rare anymore, and community acquired can be got rid of fairly easily with common antibiotics, depending on the sensitivity profile of the specific bug.