Patients can help prevent spread of staph infections
[2008-5-13]
Tag: Soap Sheets
Question | I am having surgery in two weeks and will need to spend a few days in the hospital. I heard that a drug-resistant bacterium called MRSA is spreading in hospitals. Should I be concerned? Can I do anything to protect myself from it?
Answer | Your concern is certainly understandable. Last fall, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is much more common and widespread than originally thought. They also noted that MRSA, once largely confined to health care settings, is increasingly prevalent in the broader community as well.
MRSA belongs to a genus of bacteria called Staphylococcus. Many know it as "staph," which is found in about one-third of adults, usually on the skin or in the nose.
Most people carrying the bacteria remain healthy; doctors consider them "colonized" but not infected. Most infections occur when one type of staph, Staphylococcus aureus, gets into the body through a break in the skin. Even then, it usually causes minor symptoms, such as small pimples or boils that can be treated without antibiotics.
But staph infections can sometimes be very serious for people with immune systems weakened by age or illness. Staph can produce a deep abscess, or a life-threatening infection in the bloodstream, lungs, heart, bones or surgical wounds.
Doctors prescribe drugs in the methicillin family, which are penicillin relatives, to treat ordinary staph infections. But MRSA infections are resistant to this group of antibiotics, so they are treated with other drugs. Vancomycin is the workhorse, but it has to be given intravenously.
However, it can take time to determine whether MRSA or ordinary staph caused the infection. This delay poses serious health risks and increases the risk of death. But a new test approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January should allow doctors to identify and begin treating MRSA infections within a few hours instead of a few days.
Health care centers are the perfect breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria, which can be transferred among patients in close quarters. Paradoxically, the problem begins with the widespread use of antibiotics. When bacteria mutate to resist the antibiotic, they can multiply quickly, passing on their genes to create an entire drug-resistant population.
The process speeds up if doctors prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily - for example, giving them to patients who have viral illnesses such as colds and the flu, for which they are ineffective.
Until the late 1990s, serious MRSA infections generally occurred in in-patient-hospital settings. That changed when MRSA began to spread among people who live in crowded conditions or have close skin-to-skin contact - especially when cuts and scrapes are involved. Athletic facilities, prisons and child-care centers are all likely sites for community-acquired MRSA.
The infection is also spread by poor personal hygiene, such as infrequent hand washing, and by sharing contaminated items, such as towels or razors.
You can take steps to protect yourself from health care-acquired MRSA infection. During your hospital stay, make sure your caregivers wash their hands, or even better, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer every time before they come into contact with you. Wash your own hands frequently.
If you will have an intravenous catheter, make sure that the person inserting it wears gloves and sterilizes your skin. If you have visitors, ask them to cleanse their hands before entering the room and after leaving.
You can do a lot to protect yourself from MRSA at home, too. Use an alcohol-based hand rub regularly or wash your hands frequently with soap and water. Don't share personal items such as razors, towels, sheets and athletic clothing. Keep cuts and scrapes clean, and cover them with a bandage. Shower after you exercise. Wash your gym clothes before wearing them again. Wash sheets and towels in hot water and dry them in a hot dryer. Don't pressure your doctor into giving you antibiotics if you don't need them, and never take antibiotics unless they are prescribed.
Question | I am having surgery in two weeks and will need to spend a few days in the hospital. I heard that a drug-resistant bacterium called MRSA is spreading in hospitals. Should I be concerned? Can I do anything to protect myself from it?
Answer | Your concern is certainly understandable. Last fall, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is much more common and widespread than originally thought. They also noted that MRSA, once largely confined to health care settings, is increasingly prevalent in the broader community as well.
MRSA belongs to a genus of bacteria called Staphylococcus. Many know it as "staph," which is found in about one-third of adults, usually on the skin or in the nose.
Most people carrying the bacteria remain healthy; doctors consider them "colonized" but not infected. Most infections occur when one type of staph, Staphylococcus aureus, gets into the body through a break in the skin. Even then, it usually causes minor symptoms, such as small pimples or boils that can be treated without antibiotics.
But staph infections can sometimes be very serious for people with immune systems weakened by age or illness. Staph can produce a deep abscess, or a life-threatening infection in the bloodstream, lungs, heart, bones or surgical wounds.
Doctors prescribe drugs in the methicillin family, which are penicillin relatives, to treat ordinary staph infections. But MRSA infections are resistant to this group of antibiotics, so they are treated with other drugs. Vancomycin is the workhorse, but it has to be given intravenously.
However, it can take time to determine whether MRSA or ordinary staph caused the infection. This delay poses serious health risks and increases the risk of death. But a new test approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January should allow doctors to identify and begin treating MRSA infections within a few hours instead of a few days.
Health care centers are the perfect breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria, which can be transferred among patients in close quarters. Paradoxically, the problem begins with the widespread use of antibiotics. When bacteria mutate to resist the antibiotic, they can multiply quickly, passing on their genes to create an entire drug-resistant population.
The process speeds up if doctors prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily - for example, giving them to patients who have viral illnesses such as colds and the flu, for which they are ineffective.
Until the late 1990s, serious MRSA infections generally occurred in in-patient-hospital settings. That changed when MRSA began to spread among people who live in crowded conditions or have close skin-to-skin contact - especially when cuts and scrapes are involved. Athletic facilities, prisons and child-care centers are all likely sites for community-acquired MRSA.
The infection is also spread by poor personal hygiene, such as infrequent hand washing, and by sharing contaminated items, such as towels or razors.
You can take steps to protect yourself from health care-acquired MRSA infection. During your hospital stay, make sure your caregivers wash their hands, or even better, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer every time before they come into contact with you. Wash your own hands frequently.
If you will have an intravenous catheter, make sure that the person inserting it wears gloves and sterilizes your skin. If you have visitors, ask them to cleanse their hands before entering the room and after leaving.
You can do a lot to protect yourself from MRSA at home, too. Use an alcohol-based hand rub regularly or wash your hands frequently with soap and water. Don't share personal items such as razors, towels, sheets and athletic clothing. Keep cuts and scrapes clean, and cover them with a bandage. Shower after you exercise. Wash your gym clothes before wearing them again. Wash sheets and towels in hot water and dry them in a hot dryer. Don't pressure your doctor into giving you antibiotics if you don't need them, and never take antibiotics unless they are prescribed.
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