The truth about MRSA

WOW, after my last post and responses and ??? I'm getting, I guess I need to clarify a few things about MRSA. I always forget that I know a lot about my bacterias and conditions that the average person does not. But rest assured, unless you have AIDS, are on chemo, have COPD, lung cancer or are another CF patient, my MRSA is not an issue to the general public.

MRSA is short for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or Multi-resistant staph infection, often referred to in the press as the "superbug.". It is resistant to most antibiotics and hard to treat weather it be a skin infection or colonized (living) in the lungs. It has most recently been in the news that people are contracting the MRSA skin infections in gyms, schools, doctors offices etc., causing a somewhat un-needed hysteria.

From Wiki re skin infections:
The initial presentation of MRSA is small red bumps that resemble pimples, spider bites, or boils that may be accompanied by fever and occasionally rashes. Within a few days the bumps become larger, painful and eventually open into deep, pus-filled boils. About 75 percent of CA-MRSA infections are localized to skin and soft tissue and usually can be treated effectively.

And to clarify, I have NEVER had the MRSA skin infection, which IS contagious.

Again, from Wiki re CF:
Cystic fibrosis patients are at particular risk for pulmonary colonization of MRSA, both because of their difficulty clearing mucus and their frequent hospital visits, which can increase exposure to MRSA. These factors substantially increase the rate of life-threatening MRSA pneumonia in this group. The risk of cross-colonization has led to the increased use of isolation protocols among these patients in a hospital setting.

In a nutshell, MRSA is everywhere, in the air, on surfaces just like any other bacteria or virus. Everyone is exposed to it all the time. It is especially prevalent in the health care setting, mostly hospitals. I can just about bet every cent I own, that almost every health care worker tests positive for MRSA in their nasal passages, the most common place for it to be. Although it doesn't cause any harm to a healthy person, they in turn can pass it on to a patient with a compromised immune system who is at a significantly greater risk of colonizing MRSA.

For this reason, I NEVER enter a health care facility of any kind without donning a mask and gloves, for my own protection as well as for those around me. CF patients are not allowed to socialize because of cross contamination issues. At clinic, we don our garb as well as all the medical staff. The patients are kept a good 10'-15' away from each other at all times.

And in the hospital, we are put in isolation, a private room that is supposedly scrubbed from top to bottom before we enter. Anyone entering my room has to wear a gown, mask and gloves. I can't leave the room unless I do the same. Even though the contamination protocol procedures are put into place, I still contracted it. This is why I have become germ phobic, washing my hands all the time and staying away from obvious sick people. My little bottle of Purell hand sanitizer has become my constant companion.

I hope I've educated and enlightened a little. I am so careful about MRSA, if I knew anyone in the high risk category, believe me I wouldn't be around them.

As for everyone else I know, you are safe around me. The only thing I ask in return, is to alert me if you have a cold or even the slightest sniffles when around me. A simple cold turns into pneumonia and a guaranteed hospital stay for me. YOU are a bigger threat to me than me to you. Good lord, if I were any kind of health risk, I certainly wouldn't be around my grandkiddos.

Be well and stay healthy!