MRSA

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a common skin bacterium that is resistant to a range of antibiotics. A MRSA infection means that the bacteria have got into the body through a break in the skin and multiplied, causing symptoms.

The symptoms vary depending on which part of the body is infected but there is often redness and swelling at the site of the infection. Other symptoms include boils (infection of the hair follicles), abscesses (pockets of pus under the skin), cellulitis (infection of the deep layer of the skin and the fat and tissues that lie beneath) and impetigo (a highly contagious skin infection that produces blisters). If MRSA bacteria enter into the bloodstream from your skin, they can affect almost any part of the body and cause:

• Septicaemia (blood poisoning)
• Septic Shock (widespread infection of the blood that leads to a fall in blood pressure and organ failure)
• Septic Arthritis (severe joint problems)
• Osteomyelitis (bone marrow infection)
• Meningitis
• Pneumonia
• Endocarditis (infection of the heart lining)

About one in three of us carry Staphylococcus aureus (SA) bacteria in our nose or on the surface of our skin (especially in folds like the armpit or groin) without developing an infection. This is known as being colonised by the bacteria. In hospitals the proportion of people that are colonised by MRSA is higher because of the increased contact with infected cases.

MRSA will not normally infect a healthy person and infections are most common in people who are already in hospital because they often have an entry point to get into their body such as a surgical wound or a catheter. They are then often older, sicker and weaker than the general population, making them more vulnerable to an infection and they are surrounded by a large number of other patients and staff, so the bacteria can spread easily.

Bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics; however MRSA bacteria are resistant to methicillin and usually some of the other antibiotics that are normally used to treat SA infections. Antibiotics can still be used, but you may need a much higher dose over a much longer period, or treatment with antibiotic which the bacteria is not resistant to.