merca staph infection?

MRSA has been around for years and years, yet has been recently over publicized by the media, like it's some new bacteria that has beamed down from Mars. In the Laboratory, we've been quietly churning out culture reports indicating patient's have MRSA for ages. Hospitals have become very proactive (atleast ours has) about pre-screening surgical patients, immunocompromised patients, and people at risk for MRSA upon admission. Does everyone who comes to the ER need a MRSA screen? No...We simply do not have the resources to test everyone, and it would be a foolish waste of time and resources to do so. The only time that MRSA posses an extreme risk (death) is when it is not diagnosed and treated expediantly, especially in those patients who are immunocompromised. Yes, it's methacillin resistant, and cant be treated by penicillin based drugs, but guess what folks? So, are a 100 other forms of bacterial pathogens. Methacillin resistant staph aureus can still be treated successfullly with vancomycin and several other "big gun" antibiotics. There are many other bacterial infections that are far worse than MRSA and I'd take a MRSA infection over those any day of the week. Hospitals are working very proactively to contain the spread of MRSA, will it ever be irradicated like polio? Chances are slim to none. In the mean time, we are forced to listen to an uneducated media, inject panic into an uneducated public. This too will come to pass....notice they've stopped talking about bird flu!

First of all, I think the infection you may be referring to is MRSA, which is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. It's a type of bacteria that's resistant to methicillin/penicillin-type antibiotics. There are other antibiotics that can be used, depending on the sensitivity of the staph strain.

Just wash your hands often, before eating, and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.