My aunt has been having tons of medical problems lately and The newest diagnosis is: MRSA Infection (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) Due to her allergy to Penecillain she could not go on one of the medicines she needed to. So she is on Erythmycin and Septia.

What I was wondering was what is MRSA infection, is it viral, bacterial etc.. I know it is resistant to antibiotics.. its on her leg... can it be cured, is it a disease? Will it re occur?

MRSA is a bacterium based or staph infection, normally associated with hospitals and nursing homes. However, there is a new strain called CA-MRSA meaning community based MRSA. Both are resistant to the usual antibiotics and are contracted by the elderly with very weak immune systems. Very difficult to get under control, bin, in other words almost incurable unless we develop an antibiotic that will wipe it out of the system entirely.

Tick

She is not elderly nor does she have a weak immune system.. but she has been on depression meds for a long time and a few different kinds of puffers. She hasn't been in a hospital lately at all nor around anyone who is sick so how could she have contracted it? Wow tick that's not good at all... can it kill a person, what kinds of health problems can it cause

Hi, bin, it makes it easier to pick up just about anything going around. As you know, it makes the body unreseptive to antibiotics and penncilin.

It can kill an very elderly person, bin. Well if she has MRSA then she picked it up somewhere, that is why it is so very important to wash hands as soon s you come in the house. Don't put your hands around her mouth, nose or eyes while out. It is a good idea to have hand sanitizer with you at all times.

I am not blowing a whistle here, bin, with thise far out instructions. It is extremely important nowadays to protect yourself from germs that spread disease. You don't really know what the previous person has who just opened that door, after you touch the handle, if you know what I mean.

What is she on puffers for ?

Something traumatic had to have happened to her physiology, immune system, whatever to allow this bug into her system. I healthy person very rarely contracts MRSA.

They did a study of a few hospitals around the greater Toronto area and suburbs and found that MRSA is spread through workers, nurses not changing gloves patient to patient. Doctor are the main perpetrators of this by the way. C. Dificile a highly contagious bowel disease is spread the same way.
Tick

My aunt died from MRSA. It's extremely contageous.

The route of infection was through a urine cathether probably because of poor prep.

Her immune system was weak as it was.

She lives in alberta and I live in nova scotia so I will pass the information on to my uncle... she is on puffers for asthma (spelling?) and I think some of her puffers.. actually I know some of her puffers have steroids in them. I lived with her two years ago for a long time...

She works at a high end catering company.. can she pass this disease/viral infection on to others? Is it contagious because her boss told her she has to keep working... they (the dr's ) can't or won't.. its one of the two , give her a certain medication that she needs for it but that is because of the drugs in one or more of her puffers could react badly with it.

She has been severely depressed for years and years since she lost her children , then when she was allowed to contact them again (she couldn't financially care for them for a few years and they got adopted by other families) their adoptive parents don't and won't let her have anything to do with them. Could that have helped her contract it.. the stress and depression? One thing I also just thought about was she was put in the hospital for a few hours because of what the doctors thought was an insect bite... could it have entered her body through there.. though I think it may have been the beginnings of MSRA because the so called bug bite was on the same leg in the same area as the MSRA has shown up. She might have a picture of the infected area on her Facebook. If she does and she ok's it I will post it here so you can see

Correction.. the picture I was talking about was the doctors other diagnosis.. she could have Cellulitis too they said.. she is also a diabetic

Devil's advocate here:

Suppose the route of infection of whatever was a bite. Mosquitos and ticks carry diesease. Rocky mountain spotted Fever, Lyme disease, malyara are a few.

Now, let's ask has MRSA been confirmed with laboratory tests?

To kick any serious illnesses blood sugars are going the have to be under strict control. The lungs will have to be kept clear

I believe MRSA needs an open wound to get in. Usually poor technique by the hospital staff lets it in where it doesn't belong.

MRSA patients are quaranteaned and visitors must wear masks.

Make sure MRSA has been diagnosed with a laboratory test.

Yes she went to the hospital. They did tests and came back and said that's what she had.. now she's also allergic to penicillin.. so she couldn't take that.. the dr's gave her something else * I can get the drug names no problem*.. before that they told her she had an INSECT infection... so I was taking that as a bug bite or sting of some sort. She had no ticks or mosquito bites I asked her..

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Originally Posted by KeepItSimpleStupid

MRSA patients are quaranteaned and visitors must wear masks.

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KISS, this is actually incorrect as MRSA is not airborne. The visitors and staff are under contact isolation. Visitors are not allowed to touch the patient and medical staff must wear gloves and use strict hand hygiene.

I have had MRSA twice, and so has my son. Neither of us contacted it from a hosptial. MRSA has spread to the general community and is no longer considered a hospital acquired infection.

Bin, your aunt may be allergic to penicillin, but there are many other drugs that are used to get rid of this strain of bacteria such as Genatmycin, Vancomycin, etc. Septra is also a good medication for MRSA. The wound needs to have a C&S (culture and sensitivity test) to determine which strain of staph it is along with which antibiotic works best.

As it is on her leg, if she keeps it covered, she should be able to continue to work after learning proper hand hygiene.

OK, things seem fish. MRSA should be able to be cultured and to find out what has a chance of working.

A ist of all antibiotic allergies and what happened when they were taken should be compiled. An "alergic" drug might be used if the side effects are mild.

Alergies might be able to be detected prior to administration.

Unfortunately, doctors then to "throw" something at it because, in general, it works. Unfortunately, culturing can take a few days, so throwing things at it usually ends up being the best option.

Even if your allergic to say Ampicillin (a derivative of pennicillin), you may not be allergic to pennicillin.

MRSA is a serious infection.

It is very possible that she had a bug bite of some sort and that turned to MRSA. How? Well, no one really knows. She could have come in contact with it anywhere and scratched the bite, thus turning it into MRSA.

Just because she is allergic to penicillin doesn't mean that there aren't any meds that she can't take. Again, as I stated above, there are many meds that cure MRSA. As I said, I have had it twice and I am allergic to penicillin, along with most front line antibiotics and I was able to get rid of it rather easily.

The newest diagnosis is: MRSA Infection (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) Due to my allergy to Penecillain I could not go on one of the medicines I needed to. So I am on Erythmycin and Septia. Hopefully this workson Sunday
Is the post she sent me on Facebook stating which drugs they put her on.. she does practice good hand hygene washes her hands constantly always carries sanitizer around in her apron. She's always been like that.. when I lived with her we had a routine where one of us (as stated on a board on her wall) would go around each day and whipe down all surfaces that are commonly touched and handled by many people. Such as doorknobs, handles, towel racks, dishwasher handle, computers etc...

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Originally Posted by binx44

.. she could have Cellulitis too they said.. she is also a diabetic

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Her legs must be swollen then and very tender. Usually lesions appear and weep from stored up liquids that have no where else to go but out through the skin. I hope she is having this treated as well. It is a diabetes related problem, but with care, doesn't have to get to the point where it is untreatable. Normally, nursing care in-home (VON-Victorian Order of Nurses) one or two times a week, dressing the lesions, is appropriate care to control it.

Bin, here is some information about cellulitis occurring from a compromised immune system, complicated by diabetes:

Cellulitis can sometimes start even on skin that hasn't been broken. This normally only occurs in people with weakened immune systems. People with diabetes, people with alcoholism, people taking corticosteroids, and others with compromised immune systems are at greatly increased risk of cellulitis and tend to get worse infections. This information is from one of my medical texts.

Tick

Looks like there is one type that could be airborne and that's MRSA Pneumonia.

Looks like this is an interesting reference for treating MRSA in a prison population. It probably has some merit.

http://www.bop.gov/news//PDFs/mrsa.pdf

Thanks J_9.

The drugs she is on are good, however, I wonder about the erythromycin, as it is a particularly gentle antibiotic. If her wound was cultured and the MRSA is susceptible to E-mycin, she should be good to go, but may have to take these meds for a long time. E-mycin is particularly good for cellulitis.

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Originally Posted by KeepItSimpleStupid

Looks like there is one type that could be airborne and that's MRSA Pneumonia.

Looks like this is an interesting reference for treating MRSA in a prison population. It probably has some merit.

http://www.bop.gov/news//PDFs/mrsa.pdf

Thanks J_9.

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MRSA pneumonia is indeed airborne, but it's not the time of year for that. MRSA is increasing in the prison populations as well as school locker rooms. Thus, it is no longer considered only a hospital acquired infection.

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Originally Posted by tickle

Her legs must be swollen then and very tender. Usually lesions appear and weep from stored up liquids that have no where else to go but out through the skin. I hope she is having this treated as well. It is a diabetes related problem, but with care, doesnt have to get to the point where it is untreatable. Normally, nursing care in-home (VON-Victorian Order of Nurses) one or two times a week, dressing the lesions, is appropriate care to control it.

tick

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They look pretty swollen and have been weeping the stored up liquids. Uncle said they looked good today.. yes she is getting this treated also though I think she's getting quite stressed what with all the medical problems arising in the last few days. Would there be an nursing care in-home program for people who don't have much money... my uncle has taken a second job to help pay for medical bills etc but they are bairly scraping by..




WOW so there is an airborne one too. I'll have to check it out

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Originally Posted by J_9

The drugs she is on are good, however, I wonder about the erythromycin, as it is a particularly gentle antibiotic. If her wound was cultured and the MRSA is susceptible to E-mycin, she should be good to go, but may have to take these meds for a long time. E-mycin is particularly good for cellulitis.

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That is good to know.. she is worried she will have to be on them for a long time too.. not sure but I think she might of went to a walk in clinic and then to the hospital as they do not have a doctor. Do you think maybe she should go get it looked at somewhere else?

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Originally Posted by KeepItSimpleStupid

Looks like there is one type that could be airborne and that's MRSA

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I think this is more a case of what came first, the pneumonia or the MRSA

Tick