I have been receiving calls from parents and staff about all the recent press there has been about the “new” superbug.

In the 1970’s, a particularly dangerous and drug resistant form of staph infection called MRSA appeared in hospitals. It was one of the first bacteria to outwit common antibiotics.   MRSA infections often begin as a superficial skin problem that resembles a pimple or a spider bite, but which can quickly turn into a deep, painful abscess that requires surgical draining. Infections in surgical wounds cause pain, redness swelling and sometimes draining pus.

Once confined to hospitals, a new kind of MRSA is now increasingly common in the general community. Called CA-MRSA (community associated) some community- acquired strains cause skin infections or a deadly pneumonia. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of people carry CA-MRSA in their noses. Carriers may not be sick, but they can spread the infection and run the risk of becoming ill themselves. The bacteria is spread mainly through skin to skin contact and through small cuts and abrasions. Overcrowding and poor hygiene also encourage the spread of staph. Once CA-MRSA enters your body, it causes boils and abscesses and like hospital strains and can sometimes sparks massive infections in your bone, blood or lungs. Researchers now think that community strains cause even more severe disease that hospital strains do. 

These are the main risk factors for CA-MRSA:

·         Young age

·         Participating in contact sports

·         Sharing towels or athletic equipment

·         Having a weakened immune system

·         Living in crowded or unsanitary conditions

Other risk factors not as associated to a school setting are:

·         A current or recent hospitalization

·         Residing in a long term care facility

·         Invasive devices used in institutional settings.

 

                                        Jeanette Wealton R.N. School Nurse