MRSA: Should parents be scared?

I agree it is scary! I'm always telling my kids to wash their hands everytime we get home or they come in from outside. It's getting now that I don't have to tell them so much anymore because they are doing by themselves. I haven't heard alot about this so I think I'll have to look it up because it sounds pretty serious. Thanks for this article.

Hey,Missie.It is scary when something out there isnt controlable.Its a case of scramble too little,too late.CDC is just now hopping on this situation.Did I read figures right?There are already 138,000 that have died from this?

Please watch this video for the latest info. Oh,yeah, if you know of one that doesn't have a stupid 14 or 20 sec commercial FIRST, please share the link:
http://video.aol.com/video/news-on-the-lookout-for-staph/2004484

I also wrote an article about MRSA (click my name to find it) and there were lots of comments, some from nurses and people who'd had it. Might be worth a look.

like i said Every 30 mins someone dies from this

Cindy
At this point, it is deadlier than AIDS. The reason? There are AIDS treatments that actually keep people alive for a long time, in some cases long enough to have achieved a "normal" lifespan. Amazing, huh?

The problem with MRSA is that there is not yet an effective, foolproof treatment or vaccine. It is a bit like polio epidemics in the sense that if it spreads from person to person in hospitals or schools, all you can do is treat the symptoms and hope an antibiotic regime works at some point. People do recover from this.

If you go to the first article I printed about it, you'll see testimonies from people who survived bouts of MRSA. But it can be stubborn and hard to treat and, yes, even fatal. Common sense precautions can go a long way in preventing it, including the willingness to speak up if a doctor or nurse isn't washing hands and you notice it!

thanks for the video they have the michigan stories on myfox2detroit.com according to your video jane they are claiming 1800 infections a week in 8 states and michigan wasnt even included. This is scary

jane, your article is very informative i urge everyone to read it.

I am very afraid of this coming to my children's school. I know someone that had it several years ago, in 1995 and it was a very serious illness!!!

Missie-
Fear is not a bad thing or a thing to be ashamed of. Panic is bad, fear is good. Fear can encourage us to take steps to improve our safety.
In my article "the growing danger of MRSA infection" I discuss the related issue of what we can all do to prevent MRSA from acquiring resistance to the remaining antibiotics that we use to attack it. If we continue to be sloppy in our use of antibiotics, this situation could get worse.

As I have stated in several threads, chill out people!!. MRSA is not the "OH Lordy, we're all going to die" infection the media is making it out to be. I have been dealing with MRSA for 20 years, as a nurse of debilitated old folks, . Methcillin Resistant Staph Aureus, is just that. Methcillin resistant. There are a myriad of other antibiotics that WILL kill this infection. The key is to culture early, and treat the infection with an antibiotic the it is sensitive to.

There are numerous factors which play into this bacteria becoming as it is. First and foremost, people running to the doctor and insisting upon an antibiotic at the first sign of a cold, which is a virus, and thusly, immune to an antibiotic's affect. Secondly, the meat we eat has generally been pumped full of antibiotics by the processors/ranchers, creating resistances to antibiotics in us without our knowledge. Lastly, antibacterial soaps. These products have never been shown to decrease the amount or frequency of infections, but using them increases one's risk of getting a "superbug", because you have stripped away your natural resistances. Use soap, water and good old fashioned friction to wash your hands.

Ok, I'll step down from my soapbox now.

Often these deaths are people who've picked up super-resistant staph while in hospital. There's a local hospital where the advice is to get out as fast as possible......

In my article, I mentioned that cell phones are commonly found to have the MRSA bacteria on them. A quick wipe down of your phone with a clorox wipe will do the trick on that.
I know quite a few people who have had it, including my 6 yr old daughter. The key is early detection and proper use of antibiotics, along with proper hygiene...
Yes as a parent it is quite frightening. Those I know of who have died of it have had other health issues. From what I have been led to believe, Staph attacks the weakest part of the body. Sadly I do know a family whose 3 yr. old died from MRSA around her heart (she had a heart condition)...

Donna, honey, you have been dealing with mrsa in a hospital setting. i worked as a nursing aid for a long time at many different places. When i went to work I was prepared to deal with these things. hand washing, gloves, precautionary practices, etc. What is upsetting people now is mrsa is community associated as opposed to hospital associated. how many people's kids do you know who wear gloves when touching the kid next to them. it has the potential to spread much faster and this is scary to parents. As long as i worked as a nursing aid i had not ever even heard of mrsa until last month when my neighbor (who works in a group home) got it and told me about it.

The really pathetic thing here in NC is that a third grader in a local school got a case of MRSA. The school simply sent home a paper telling the parents what MRSA was. No letter saying that a student had it or that they had to clean the school, etc. They did have to contact the health department and let them know, as per the law. Now I think that is totally and completely wrong because my friend has a child who goes to that same school and her child has been sick from a fall over the summer. He has had to have surgery, been rushed to and from the emergency room several times, and still has a massive hernia from the injury. You know his immune system is not where it needs to be and here the school doesn't even have enough sense to let the parents when when a case of MRSA is going around?! I just happened to have bought the paper that day and saved it. I showed it to my best friend who immediately called her daughter and told her. Her daughter went off on the school!!!!

I know I would want to know if a child has MRSA in the school as I am a school bus driver and am around the kids, and then I come home and am around my grandkids and family.

Missie, honey,
Actually, I work in long term care, not a hospital. As I stated before, early detection is the key. My point was, and is, that MRSA, has been around for decades. Let me ask you this...When was the last time you or anyone you know was prescribed Methcillin for anything? Methcillin has not been widely used since the '60's, because other and better antibiotics have been created. I am only saying that "Methcillin Resistant"...means just that...Methcillin won't cure it. Others will.

I did hear about this a while ago, then nothing more. That's the problem with news stories. We'll hear about something, then not get any follow-ups, then have it dumped on us again, only because - like this case - it has become a big issue again.

all I was saying Donna was that the reason you knew about it because you work in a "medical" setting (I'm sorry I didnt use the right terminology) and that you prepare for communicable diseases at work. I also said I was a nursing assistant who worked in long term care. Did you not wear gloves and other protection that children in a school setting (and not a "medical" setting) might not? By the way my use of honey wasnt being sarcastic or patronizing, apparently how you worded your reply you thought so...sorry

Michelle, I agree. Parents should know. I am constantly after the kids to wash their hands and I hope they do this at school too. I have teenagers and have strict policy about sharing and borrowing personal items. Even, from me. Do I think my kids will get it? Probably not. But, its not going around any of their schools either. Would I be scared if it was? Even after all I read, the answer is probably. I have had an ill child and it is scary no matter how long the disease has been around and how many people have had it. I don't think that when someone gets sick, even if its caused from a rare illness that's only been around for a short while, its any less scary.

Okay, here's a dumb question. Will MRSA be antibiotic-resistant on a case-by-case basis, or are we sort of out of luck as a population? For example, if I've had two doses of antibiotics in my life, and my next-door neighbor has had, say, two per year, will I be less susceptible to MRSA than my neighbor, or are we both up a creek? Just trying to gain an understanding. I'm not panicked, but I certainly want to know what I'm dealing with. By the way, Missie, I'm a fellow Michigander...I agree that the daily school closings stories are pretty disconcerting.

Missie,
I suppose I did misconstrue your use of "honey", for that I apologize. Yes, at work we wear more protection than one would use in the home, but if proper handwashing and home cleaning are utilized routinely, the risk is much less.

Julia,
You are at an advantage over someone who has taken lots of antibiotics, but you'd probably be surprised at how many you have ingested, if you are a meat eater...see my comment above. BTW...all MRSA is antibiotic resistant..The "M" is the antibiotic, the "R" is resistant. "SA" is the "bug". We all generally carry Staph Aureus on our skin, it is one of our "normal floras"..one of the myriad of bacteria we carry. The resistant strain is the problem.

I was reading about antibiotics being in our meat. I dont like that idea. as for mrsa im allergic to penicillin family of antibiotics anyways. So any of the "cillin" drugs they wouldnt give me anyways.

MRSA is a matter of concern and Missie, your post has given us another chance to click on links and learn about it. It has, as Donna F. mentions, been around for a long time. Every few years, usually because of a child's death, it comes to the forefront in news converage.

Let's take this opportunity to re-think how we use and teach hygiene to kids and adults, re-evaluate whether we are using antibiotics appropriately, and in healthcare settings, be vigilant consumers.

Julia, I dont take alot of antibiotics either. I rarely get illnesses that require antibiotics. Like I said, if it went around my kids school, I would be worried. About 6 yrs ago my daughter had a mysterious illness that kept her in the hospital for almost a month. Any serious illness going around concerns me.

Well said Debra

Well said! Wow!

A first grader at my childrens school has contacted the mrsa virus, I am a bus driver for the same school. I would like to know the best thing to use to disinfect my school bus.

From what i understand anything antibacterial but, i'm not that sure, i know there are actually companies that will disinfect too. i cleaned my house with bleach cleaner but I dont know if that helps or not. Nobody in my family has ever had it.

My 3-yr old granddaughter was diagnosed with ca-MRSA today. She had a boil on her bottom that they drained in the ER last Sunday. They took a culture at that time, packed the wound, and told her to return to the surgeon on Wednesday. She had been on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection as well as a urinary tract infection, and they left her on those. On Wednesday, the surgeon looked at the wound, said it looked good and took her off the antibiotics and sent her home. On Friday, my daughter received a letter telling her to call about the culture results. She called on Saturday, the call nurse told her it was a serious bacteria and the Dr. had prescribed Bactrim. That was all the info they gave her. When she told me, I got on line, found out Bactrim is a sulpha based drug, used to treat MRSA. SO I looked into it and everything fit. I called her and told her to get her into her regular Doctor IMMEDIATELY. And to tell her Doctor that she knew something was seriously wrong and she wanted some answers. The Dr got the results, also noticed more 'pimples' coming up on her bottom. Yes, it is MRSA. They are sending her to Loyola Center for Infectious Disease on Thursday. This little girl was as healthy as could be up until last spring. Since then she has had small pimples, two boils and two UTI's. But they were all treated separately, until the last time no one ever tested for it. I have done nothing but read everything I could find on line about it. One thing is, more than twice as many people die from flu each year than MRSA and that a 10% bleach solution is best for sanitizing as well as lysol. Anyway, I will be a nervous wreck until we get the results from Loyola, I am just praying that it is not the invasive kind (spread into her bloodstream, bones etc.) That little girl is the apple of my eye. Oh, and they told her mommy that there was no reason for her to stay out of school (as long as it is dry and covered). My daughter is keeping her out anyway and will probably have to take FMLA.

i have been told bleach is the best way to sanitize too. my friends daughter had boils and it took forever to get them taken care of, we now believe she had mrsa. the doctors here suck! you are in are prayers and we hope for a quick recovery for your granddaughter. by the way are the giving her antibiotics intravenously, my neighbor had mrsa and she had to get her antibiotics from ivs