MRSA stands for Methacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  Staphylococcus is a bacteria that lives all over animals, includig humans!  It is part of something we call "normal flora"  or the normal bacteria we carry on our skin, in our mouth, and our digestive system.  We carry this bacteria, as well as millions of other bacteria, with us all the time.  Households will share the same strains of bacteria. Methicillin-resistant means that the Staphylococcus has learned to resist treatment with a penicillin (Methicillin) that was developed to treat it.  In a way, it has become 'smarter' by all the antibiotics that have been used over the years.  There are two kinds of MRSA.  Community-associated MRSA and Healthcare-associated MRSA.

HA-MRSA  is carried by individuals who have had alot of healthcare needs.  Because they are exposed to more antibiotics than those without frequent healthcare needs, they carry a smarter strain of Staphylcoccus.  These individuals are at increased risk to get infected with the resistant Staphylococcus because their immune systems are weakened.  We often place these patients in "contact isolation" when they are in the healthcare system.  This helps prevent the spread of the 'smarter', more difficult to treat Staphylococcus to others with weakened immune systems.  

CA-MRSA infections are seen in community based infections, or those who who have not recently been in the hospital or had a medical procedure.  These infections usually appear as suspected 'spider bites' and progress to skin infections such as boils.  They may be recurrent or become large.  During the flu and pneumonia season, the community strain of MRSA may cause serious lung infections.  Recurrances may be halted, but often require attention to the entire household.  We can help you with recurrent CA-MRSA.  Please understand that this may mean your entire household will need evaluation and treatment. 

You may find area hospitals offerring to culture you and find out if you are carrying a resistant Staphylococcus like those mentioned above.  If you are, special antibiotics before surgery and careful instructions--including something called decolonization--can be quite beneficial.  There is a difference between infection and colonization, or carriage state.  In infections, the bacteria actually invades our tissues and causes signs and symptoms; such as warmth, redness and fever.  In colonization, the individual has no signs or symptoms of the organism, but it just sits on our skin or mucous membranes (mouth, eyes, nose, and other places).  In those with colonization, there is only risk of invasion if syou have trauma to the skin serface or surgery; your immune system becomes compromised, or the organism is an invasive type.  Remember, we are covered with bacteria all the time!  They help us digest our food, and keep our skin tough enough to protect us.  This is a normal state.  This is also why, when we get infected, it is most often with an organism we carry--our own bacteria!