MRSA Infection Control:
Way More Than Just a Skin Infection
Beth and Brooke’s nightmare started with a small sty in six-year-old Brooke’s left eye.
The next day while Beth, Brooke’s mom, was combing Brooke’s hair after a bath, Beth noticed a tiny black pinhole-like mark on Brooke’s upper left arm.
“What happened to your arm, Brookie?”
“I dunno,”
Brooke said and shrugged.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
Brooke shrugged again. And Beth put it out of her mind. Over the next few days, the black pinhole gradually turned into what looked like a worsening open sore, and Beth treated it with an antiseptic and covered it with a bandage.
At 6 o’clock in the morning a couple of days later, Beth awoke abruptly to the sound of Brooke’s shrill screams. Instantaneously, Beth jumped out of bed. She could see Brooke’s shadow in the doorway of her dark bedroom.
“What? What happened?”
-Beth asked excitedly as she moved toward Brooke.
“Did you have a bad dream, Honey?”
“MOMMY! MOMMY! My arm! It hurts, Mommy!”
-Brooke was sobbing and screaming.
Advanced Bio Treatment: MRSA Infection Control
Beth ran toward the walk-in closet, turned on the closet light, and pulled Brooke inside, raising her arm so that she could look at it. Even before she removed the wet, stained bandage, she could see the wound had gotten much worse. Red streaks and liquid spread beyond the bandage. What she saw when she removed the bandage filled her with disbelief and horror. The tiny black pinhole was now a gaping, raw, open wound that appeared to be full of liquid. A thick yellow liquid oozed from the wound and trickled across Brooke’s arm and dripped to the carpet. The wound was surrounded by a large greenish-red halo that clearly indicated a terrible infection. The wound and its halo covered much of the area between Brooke’s elbow and shoulder. Her whole upper arm looked swollen.
Beth laid her had across Brooke’s forehead, and Brooke was hot to the touch. Beth threw on her sweats and sneakers, and without even combing her hair or brushing her teeth, she wrapped a blanket around Brooke and scooped her up, jumped in the car, and drove to the nearest emergency room.
Hours later, Brooke was diagnosed with the deadly, highly contagious, and anti-biotic- resistant staph infection called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA. Because the infection was severe and because Brooke had a high fever, she was admitted to the hospital where a cocktail of antibiotics was administered intravenously. Brooke was lucky. The infection was caught, treated, and cured before it caused any of the deadly complications that kill over 18,000 people a year in the United States, about 20% of the people who contract MRSA.
After three additional children at Brooke’s school were subsequently diagnosed and treated for MRSA, Brooke was believed to have contracted the bacteria at her school, who hired Advanced Bio Treatment. We specialize in bio-hazardous cleanups like MRSA infection control. We were able to decontaminate the entire site within an hour of the school’s call.
How Is MRSA Transmitted?
MRSA is a bacteria and is transmitted in the following ways:
- Through direct contact with the skin or bodily fluids of someone with MRSA.
- Through contact with objects like towels or toys contaminated with the bacteria.
- Through direct contact with a carrier, who has no symptoms of MRSA but who carries the bacteria in his or her bodily fluids and on his or her skin.
What Are the Symptoms of MRSA?
MRSA manifests as a skin infection, like bumps and blisters that are red, swollen, and painful. Pus and other drainage are the primary symptoms of MRSA. Pus is found in the following skin infections:
- Boils, which are hair follicles filled with pus.
- Abscesses, which are collections of pus anywhere on the body.
- Carbuncles, which are large, puss-draining abscesses.
- Sty, which is a pus-filled sore on the eyelid.
- Impetigo, which is a pus-filled blister.
When any of these symptoms are present, you should seek medical care immediately and not attempt to clean or treat the wound yourself because the bacteria is highly contagious and can easily spread to anyone in contact with it.
Why is MRSA Infection Control So Important?
- MRSA is resistant to, and even thrives among, many antibiotics.
- MRSA is highly contagious.
- MRSA symptoms can disappear from the skin, but the bacteria is still present and travels through the bloodstream into internal organs, where it can be fatal if the bacteria overwhelms the body and if the bacteria resists antibiotics. In the bloodstream, MRSA can cause the following potentially fatal complications:
- Blood poisoning.
- Toxic shock syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure.
- Endocarditis, the inflammation of the thin sac that covers the heart.
- Pneumonia and lung infections.
- Osteomyelitis, an infection of bone matter.
- Meningitis, an infection in the brain.
How Can You Limit Your Exposure to MRSA?
- The most effective MRSA infection control is washing your hands often.
- Don’t share personal items that come in contact with the skin like hair brushes, towels, or razors.
- Cover cuts until they are healed. Open abrasions allow the MRSA bacteria into the body of an uninfected person and out of the body of an infected person.
- Don’t attempt to treat or clean a skin abrasion on another person without protective clothing and proper hygiene.
- If you are a caregiver and must treat a possible MRSA wound, wear gloves and mouth, nose, and eye protection, thoroughly wash and disinfect your hands, protective gear, and clothing, and properly dispose of gloves.
- Don’t touch an open skin wound on another person.
- If you come into contact with a person or object that may have MRSA, wash and disinfect the areas of contact and any objects that may have come in contact.
- Wipe down hard surfaces with a disinfectant that kills MRSA bacteria.
If a large area, like Brooke’s school, has been contaminated with MRSA, don’t attempt to perform MSRA infection control yourself. Chances are, you do not have the right protective clothing, the right waste containers, or the right disinfectants to do the job safely and thoroughly. Attempting MRSA infection control at a large scene yourself can spread rather than remove the deadly bacteria, putting you and others at risk. Call the professionals at Advanced Bio Treatment. We are here for you 24 hours every day of the year, and we take emergency calls and work with your insurance company. Should you need our services, please call us at 800-295-1684.
