[Maof2]

:confused: Is MRSA airborne. There's a person at my husbands place of employment that was told by her Dr that she might have it on wound on her leg.

[kristaschafer]

:confused: Is MRSA airborne. There's a person at my husbands place of employment that was told by her Dr that she might have it on wound on her leg.

I am an STNA and work in a very large nursing home and deal with MRSA on a daily basis. No, it is not airborne. You have to touch the person who is infected and you yourself have an open wound for it to enter order to get infected with it.

[J_9]

As Kristaschafer said above, it is not airborne. It is contact only, unless nasal passages or the respiratory system is involved, and that is EXTREMELY rare and most patients by then are already hospitalized. I'll try to explain it simply.

Consider airborne for a moment, that is when someone sneezes, coughs, breathes on you, so the infection is in your respiratory system. Now, MRSA is a staph infection of the skin, tissues, etc, so it can't "fly" off your skin into someone's nose, or mouth. You must come in contact with it (touch) to become infected.

MRSA is usually spread through physical contact--not through the air. It is usually spread in hospitals on people's hands. Healthcare workers hands may become contaminated by contact with patients, or surfaces in the workplace, and medical devices that are contaminated with body fluids containing MRSA.

[sirhillary]

:confused: Is MRSA airborne. There's a person at my husbands place of employment that was told by her Dr that she might have it on wound on her leg.

1. A letter written to the Times by N.A. Simmons Emeritus Consultant Microbiologist at the Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital Trust. says

"To be truly effective, measures to contain MRSA must block airborne transmission" This link used to work and The Times having accidentally deleted it are trying to put it back so here it is http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...icle418262.ece

2. The Royal College of Nursing - Continuing Professional Development - Infection Control

"Airborne Pathogens cannot travel through the air unless carried on airborne particles. Transmission occurs via:

i. Respiratory droplets – coughing and sneezing may transmit large or small droplets such as in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and influenza.

ii. Dust, which contains skin cells and can carry bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, or spores such as Clostridium difficile and Aspergillus."
http://www.e-co.uk.com/infectioncontrol.pdf

[cozzmar]

As an LPN I sometimes get asked this question also. The truth is that MRSA is mostly a contact illness. Can you get it via airborne? There are many illnesses that can be transferred via airborne through cough, sneeze causing a transfer of germs, viruses and bacteria. If the infected person has an airway infection then it is possible. Remember there is NO bacteria that will say, "I'm this strain so I cannot let myself be transferred that way".
Be safe, it's better to be over concerned than under.
The number one defense against ALL illness is hand washing...

[sarahaz]

Actually, MRSA itself is not airborne nor does having respiratory MSRA increase the risk of it becoming airborne. MRSA is droplet when it is in the respiratory tract and has a 6 foot contamination site, due to the mucous and spit being to heavy to float farther than that. In an instance where MRSA can be airborne is when it attaches to skin cells or dust and floats through the air, making it easy for a person to breathe those particles in and settle in your nose and respiratory tract.