MRSA Resources

34 responses so far ↓

• jeanne // Mar 20, 2007 at 8:06 pm

  my son was diagnosed with ca-myrsa in december/january. he suffered rashes and what we thought were spider bites (infected) as early as august. we had him to two different doctors for these bites and rashes. they would go away and come back. finally in january, i took him to a third doctor who cultured the most recent infection and it was community form of mrsa. the antibiotic worked well and now in march - he has mrsa back on a rash from a belt near his stomach area. does anyone know if mrsa travels, if it simply came back or never left. He originally had it in the crook of his arm, and then a boil on his face. now it is on his stomach.
  help please , if anyone can tell me if maybe the delay in diagnosis might have something to do with it recurring so soon.

• nikki // Apr 29, 2007 at 8:28 pm

  i now have MRSA. i was diognosed with it about 2weeks ago.. but the problem is i have had it off and on for about a year. they just kept giving me medicines after medicines.. Now i have it so bad, that i get out break after out break, with no exceptions. i must have over 200 scares and now dont know what to do.. If anyone has any info. please let me know. thank you

• janet // May 9, 2007 at 7:27 pm

  Hello nikki,

  You should go to this doctor that treated me for MRSA. His name is Robert J. Roland (infectious Disease) 908-810-9200. What I had was very serious that I could of die from it.

• Malissia // May 24, 2007 at 10:01 am

  I’m glad to see there are people in this country who are taking MRSA seriously. I was infected after an accident which required an external X-frame to hold my lower body together. I wound up back in the hospital in intensive care with a raging infection that nearly killed me when a chunk of it broke loose and shot into my lung. I have recovered now, but there are lingering problems that I will have to deal with the rest of my life, not to mention that ever present knowledge that it could come back. I bless those who are trying to do something about it.

• Sandra // May 27, 2007 at 9:46 pm

  I contacted the Governor here in Florida about what happened to my husband. When he was released from the hospital there was no mention that he had an MRSA. He was also released from dialysis after being treated for an infection, with no follow up and no mention that the infection could still be there. Since he was released they would not be following up on his infections, so who did they think would be?

  The governor’s office sent my seve page letter to the Health Department and they are currently investigating. I received a call on Wednesday from the person who is doing the investigation and his comments were that it would have been much easier if I had contacted them when I found out about it.

  I had no idea what to do at the time, and it is only because several attorneys have told me this year that I should consider complaining to the Health Department because they were not interested in handling my case.

  It seems as though doctors either don’t realize what a tragedy they inflict on people by not informing them that they are dying, or they are not educated well enough. Either way, I plan to stay away from hospitals as much as I can.

  God Bless all of you who have had this problem, and for those who have survived it, God Has Blessed You!

• Delite // May 30, 2007 at 7:16 pm

  Hello Sandra,

  I am in Orlando, and have recently been diagnosed with MRSA. I would like to find out more from you in regards to the information you are getting from the health department. Feel free to contact me via email.

• Nichole // Jun 13, 2007 at 7:46 am

  I am currently having my second bout of cellulitis due to a MRSA infection in the past 7 months. My husband and I are planning to have children, but I cannot risk an infection while pregnant.

  Is this something that is always reacurring or is there a way to be sure I won’t have another flare up?

• Pamela // Jun 13, 2007 at 10:44 am

  I had an appendectomy 2 weeks ago & was discharged from the hospital. Three days later I was readmitted for 103-104 fevers & was told I had a staph infection & Cellulitis. I have an 8 inch deep hole in my abdomin spitting pus. I spent another week in the hospital & was released with home IV’s of Vancomycin. I was NOT told I had MRSA until I researched the antibiotic & called the doctor. I was given NO hygiene help or ANY info on MRSA or how to probe/clean my wound. I cannot believe I was released with no clue. Being new here… what is an ID doc? Any help is appreciated!

• Sandra // Jun 14, 2007 at 12:30 am

  Pamela,and ID doc is Infectious Disease or an Infectologist. I would certainly contact one as soon as possible.

  If you have insurance you may be able to get a home health nurse to come and show you how to clean your wound. That should have been done at the hospital before you were discharged.

  Even after you are cleared for MRSA you need to check periodically to be sure that it hasn’t reappeared. It can get into your bloodstream and cause havock. So, please do find a doctor who knows about this and be sure that you inform anyone to wash their hands (you too) a lot and put your bandages etc. into a separate bag for disposal. Where are you located? Your story sounds awfully familiar.

  Any time a doctor tells you that you have an infection from now on - be sure to ask for the lab report.

  God Bless, and let us know how you are doing.

• Sandra // Jun 14, 2007 at 11:57 am

  Pamela, go to this website it will give you information on the Cellulitis

  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cellulitis/DS00450/DSECTION=1

  This is an excellent website and you can also search for other information there. It may be a place to find the information you need for your circumstances.

  God Bless, Sandra

• Janet // Jun 15, 2007 at 9:21 pm

  This MRSA thing is going around like crazy. I had it back in April of this year and now my husband is in the hospital and also had MRSA. What is going on.

• Sandra // Jun 16, 2007 at 12:59 pm

  What type of MRSA do you have Janet? These things are usually associated with hospitalization, however in England they are seeing a lot of the superbugs in the community as well. I sort of think that some of it may have to do with all the antibacterial agents we now have in the home. The superbugs started in the hospitals where they built resistance to the cleaners used there. Now that all of us are using these agents - the community based bacteria are becoming resistent to them as well.

  Another factor seems to be the reluctance of doctors to inform their patients the ‘type’ of staph infection they have. My husband and Pamela were told they had ’staph’ infections, no one mentioned that they were MRSA, a much different story.

  All of us have had a normal ’staph’ infection at one time or another, so we don’t even think about it - we take our antibiotics and go on our merry way assuming it is being cured. With an MRSA you need to be checked periodically. In 1999 the Health Department issued guidelines for dealing with these resistant bacteria. One of them says that contact precautions are necessary until three (3) successive cultures show up negative.

  If no one follows up at all - - - See what I mean? Our best defense out here is still the oldest one, wash frequently using soap and water, clean waste baskets used for disposing of wound dressings and keep clothing, bedding and towels used by an infected person seperate from everyone elses - and wash in HOT water with Bleach. The same way you get rid of other skin problems.

  I think a lot of us are lax about washing. We probably all wash after using the rest room, but how many wash after helping someone get out of bed when they are ill? Staph Epidermis lives on our skin and if you are going into the hospital for any sort of elective surgery it is recommended that you clean yourself with a soap - I will have to look it up on the internet - for a few days prior to help keep skin born infections out of your surgical site.

  My only other recommendation is that you get out of the hospital as soon as possible and be sure that someone is there with you as often as possible.

  God Bless

• Janet // Jun 20, 2007 at 5:28 pm

  I was in the hospital on April 2007 and they told me it was Cellulitis. Then later on they said I had skin MRSA. They knew this once they did a culture. Which my left eye was close and it hurt so much and it look like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. I’m very thankful that I’m living because the doctor told I that I could of die. I had to get surgery for draing. As for my husband, he was told that it was a spider bite. Then later on they told us that it was MRSA what he had and had surgery done as for draing, which it happens to be a very deep one. I’m just praying to god that my kids don’t get it because I have a 6 year old and 5 month old baby.
  There’s a lot of people that need to know about MRSA infection.

  God Bless

• LaVere // Jul 27, 2007 at 9:36 pm

  I need information to get rid of MRSA my husband has had it now four times since February 2007. Wha are we doing wrong?
  Please help!!

  GOD Bless

• connie // Jul 30, 2007 at 5:08 pm

  My 6 year old got MRSA from my brother a year ago. After 3 bouts of it, it has been gone for 7 months now. Today I took my 1 year old to the emergeny room for MRSA. My brother currently does not have any boils or outbreaks. I need to know more about this. How would my kids get this if my brother does not have boils now? Once it’s gone, is it gone until we come in contact with someone who has it again? How can I stop my girls from getting this again (besides hand washing - which we do now & we use hand sanatizer, also). Can people transmit this when the boils & outbreaks are not present? Will my girls always have this?

• Gretta // Jul 31, 2007 at 7:04 am

  Hello there , my name is Gretta and on july 1 of 2007 I lost my mother to this MRSA . she was in a nursing home and she was fine one day and the next was in the hostipal . I have been trying to find all I can about this and Sepsis because I was told she also had that . This MRSA is one bad bug and I dont wish it one anybody and my prayers are with everybody that has it . if anybody could help me understand it better please write me Thank you

• Lizz // Aug 4, 2007 at 9:54 pm

  Hi, my six year old son Adam has just spent five weeks in hospitial and has had MRSA for the 3rd time.Each time contracted in hospitial.

  He also developed Sceptic Shock then Toxic Shock Syndrome as a complication of the MRSA in his blood.
  He was admitted on 27th June and got home on 3rd August.Here is a bit off background info on Adam.

  Adam was born prematurely, at 25 weeks gestation weighing 1 pound 14 ounces and has mutiple health problems including severe cerebal palsy and chronic lung disease and is on home oxygen.
  Adam had grade 4 bilateral intraventricular brain hemmriges at 2 days old and was not expected to survive, grade 3 causes severe disability, grade 4 normally results in death. This resulted in him having hydracephlaus so instead of his Spinal Fluid leaving the brain area, it stayed due to blockage and caused fluid on the brain, and he had a vp shunt (Ventricular Peritonial,so fuid drained from the brain through pipeing under the skin to his lower tummy cavity) fitted to control this when he was 10 weeks old.

  The first time was when just 10 days old and in an incubator on the Neo-natal unit,it started on his skin and spread through a line site to his blood, so he developed sceptacemia, it then spread to his CSF (Cerebal Spinal Fluid) causing Meningitis, nearly all of the babies on the unit were affected and myself and my family were screened but all came back negative, it was thought to be due to a doctor as so many babies got it. Adam was treated with Vancramycin and Gentomycin and recovered but was left with impared hearing due to the medications.
  The second time was when he was 3 years old, due to Adam’s medical problems he is admitted to hospitial more than the average child for illness and has now had 8 operations, on each admittance, Adam is always screened for MRSA as he had had it as a Neo-nate, he always ‘alerts ‘ on the computer systems but had always been negative.
  Adam had a Gastrostomy operation to fit a micky button to aid with tube feeding, and got MRSA in his gastromomy site, his wound had been sore and red on his discharge from hospitial and was screened the day he went home, we got a telephone call 2 days later and was told it was infected with MRSA so he was treated by our community nurses.
  The third time is recent. Adams shunt to control his hydracephlaus blocked and he was critically ill, he became unconcious and went into a coma and nearly died, he had emergency surgery to remove his blocked shunt and had an EVD (External Ventricular Drain) fitted so all his spinal fluid collected into a little bag, he was supposed to return to theatre after a few days to have a new shunt fitted when he had recovered enough.After 2 days on intensive care he was tranferred to a neurological ward where he cotracted MRSA yet again. Adam had been screened as usual when admitted and had been negative.Microbiology have confirmed the MRSA was a different strain to any he had had before and that he had caught it in hospitial due to inadequate wound and dressing care,which we had been complaining about at the time. It had got in through a central line. Adam’s condition worsened over the next 4 days and twice he stopped breathing on the ward and was rushed back to intensive care where he was ventilated as he had sceptic shock. The MRSA was only in his blood to start with but then spread to his spinal fluid so he again got meningitis. He then developed a severe but rare condition called Toxic Shock Syndrome, which is a known complication of MRSA sceptacemia. There is only approx 40 cases of Toxic Shock per year in the uk with 55% being women and tampon use, most other cases are burns victims, 5% of cases die, thats about 12 per year and a lot are left with organ failures and amputated finger, toes ect, Most doctors never see a case of it. Adam was critically ill and not expected to survive, his organs were beginning to fail due to lack off blood supply and he then also contracted Candida (Thrush) in his blood through another central line site. After over 2 weeks on intensive care fighting for his life he was transferred back to a ward, not the same one where he origanally got the MRSA as we made a complaint of neglect, and spent another couple of weeks recovering so he could under go more brain surgery to have his new shunt fitted. I am quite knowledgeable of MRSA and am totally paranoid of cleansiness when he goes into hospitial but had nver known about the link with Toxic Shock Syndrome. I am amazed my little boy, who has comprimsed health, actually managed to survive all this, he is now more disabled than he was before,but whether this is due to more damage in his brain because of the shunt blockage or the infections and shock we don’t know. He now has no real use of his limbs and his eyes are affected. Due to the Toxic Shock his skin is all peeling off and we are expecting his remaining hair (he had a lot shaved off for the brain surgery) to fall out, he has his normal character although his food tastes have changed. He now has to have tests on his Adrenal Glands, his Pituatry Gland and Hypothalamus as these have been affected and tests to check his ‘ageing’ has anybody else experienced this, or heard of MRSA leading to Toxic Shock?

• Erma // Aug 20, 2007 at 9:34 pm

  I have went on a website called www.pubmed.gov

  I found several studies of mrsa being helped with certain essential oils, colloidal silver, and mangosteen.

  You can go to the site and key in the topic that you wish to look up.

  I keyed in mrsa and essential oils and then went back and keyed in mrsa and mangosteen, etc.

  I don’t know if this can help but thought I would put it out there for you to research.

  Best wishes

• chris // Aug 24, 2007 at 9:31 pm

  I got mrsa from walter reed army medical center in 2004. i have been having break outs every month or so. it is very painful and the military will not compensate me one bit for this. I came back from iraq had surgery there and that is when i got it. I am now filing a lawsuit against the hospital and i will let everyone know what happens. any questions please feel free to contact me at

• steve d // Aug 27, 2007 at 2:23 pm

  HI ,IGOT MRSA AT A HOSOITAL IN ORLANDO FL. AFTER A RIGHT RENAL REMOVEL LESS THAN 12HRS AFTER I WAS REAL SICK MY DAUGHTER EVEN TOLD DOC. SHE THOUGHT I HAD SOMETYPE OF INFECTION (DOC DIDNT KNOW SHE IS AN ER NURSE AT A HOSPITAL) DOC THOUGHT SHE WAS AN OVER PROTECTIVE CHILD ANYWAY ABOUT 23HRS AFTER SURGERY THEY HAD TO TAKE ME BACK TO SURGERY TO TRY AND SAVE MY LIFE(WHICH THANK GOD THEY DID. DOC EVEN SAID IN THE PRESENTS OF SEVERAL PEOPLE “YOU HAD TO HAVE GOTTEN IT IN THE O.R.”IT LEFT ME TOTALY MESSED UP. MRSA EAT MOST ALL THE STOMACK MUSSELS ON MY RIGHT SIDE.IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER,NOTHING CAN BE DONE.THE SAD PART OF THIS STORY IS AFTER MUCH RESREACH I HAVE FOUND OUT THERE ARE NO LAWYERS WHO WILL TAKE THE CASE(EVEN THOUGHT THEY SAY I HAVE A STRONG CASE IT COST TO MUCH TO PROVE WERE I GOT IT.)THE HOSPITAL WILL NOT RELEASE ANY REPORTS THAT DEAL WITH THE INFECTION AND DONT HAVE TO BY LAW. THAT A SHAME ANY ONE THAT CAN HELP EMAIL ME AT

• Sandra // Aug 27, 2007 at 6:41 pm

  Steve, I sent you an email. For anyone else out there who thinks the hospital doesn’t have to give you information about your infection or any other medical treatment, that is wrong. By Florida law, all medical records regarding your hospitalization must be turned over to you - but they can charge a fee for making copies.

  As far as a lawsuit, you will not find an attorney who will take it because it is still considered a ‘risk of hospitalization’. We all know that these hospitals can do a much better job of preventing these infections but they don’t because they think it is too expensive to do so.

  I watched a documentary about one hospital in PA that tried to get administrators on the band wagon, and in order to do that, they actually wrote a paper showing that infections cost the hospital much more than the efforts to keep them in check.

  Too bad, we can’t get that information to present to all of the hospitals out there. If they understood that they can save money along with lives, we all would have a much better chance at survival.

  I have sent my interrogatories out and am waiting for the answers to them - they have 20 days from the date of receipt to reply. We will see what happens with that. Wish me luck!

  Sandy

• chalie weaver linwood nj // Sep 9, 2007 at 10:56 am

  90 % of the problem is the facility and drs involved can hide info under protection of patients rights.i was unaware if you are both sedated and pretty much on a form of life support you can be asked ??? and as long as you make some sort of acknowledgement med people use that as a responsive answer.family doesnt get informed of answers because they are protected under patient rights garbage.when i visit an md i can tell you everything about the patient in front of me through the sheetrock walls.but if i ask about the ongoing infection of a loved one they hide behind patient rights laws and dont have to inform you of anything.and if you think p.o.a. means anything it does it means they come to you over billing.it means nothing when it comes to decisions.its a disgrace. i lived through the legal garbage for five years,giving care at home following organ after organ being destroyed from mrsa.the sad part is as cute and coy as the involved people thought they were knowing they had me at that point,,,well now as bitter as ive become think about it all day .the only thought i have is they used to have the bear by the tail,when she died they let go,now the bear is turning around and he has a sharp set of teeth.even our gov waited till he was admitted after a bad car crash to get involved.he must have gotten a minor infec because all is quiet now.i never thought i could see legal murder.from the coverup ,altering ,tests done without authorization under guise of an alternative test and results vanishing after being viewed.i need a new knee ,but with this mrsa becoming as easy to get as a cold i decline .i just needit strong enough to put up a couple butts.thats why when u go in a hosp sign nothing.the way they look at it people r dying every minute .its a profit .i think they made about 1.5 million off her

• Maxine // Sep 10, 2007 at 7:52 pm

  My 39 year old daughter has MSRA. She has had a number of different kinds of treatment, and started radiation today. If this doesn’t work, she was told that she has 12 to 18 months to live. Please advise me of a specialist she can see. We live in Arkansas.

  Mary

• Sandra // Sep 10, 2007 at 8:41 pm

  I am sorry for your troubles. I also believe that they are getting away with murder. Too many doctors aren’t even telling their patients what they have wrong with them, and then they claim this is coming IN from outside. Well, when you see a case, report it to the patient, give them the information they need to keep it from spreading.

  Between doctors and lawyers, none of them are worth a basket full of …

  I am sorry, all of them are not bad, but if they don’t learn to be more open and honest with their patients, this is what the backlash will be.

  The put Kvorkian in jail, but no one has the balls to do anything about the ones who are are killing people ‘by mistake’.

  An auto mechanic is in greater risk for a lawsuit than a doctor. There is something very wrong with that situation. I want to know what the criteria is for ‘frivolous’ lawsuits. Is it just those that lose, or is it really frivolous? I can’t imagine any lawyer spending money on any case that they don’t beleive they have a good chance to win.

  Makes you wonder.

• lisa // Oct 9, 2007 at 11:51 am

  My husband contracted MRSA in the bone during knee lazer surgery in 2000. (At that time only 1 in 3 million got it). We weren’t told about the MRSA, I had to find out info for myself, almost like they don’t want to tell you. After 4 surgeries to remove infection & 3 mos of IV vancomycin, he was left with nerve damage to his leg. He can’t straighten it out and has constant pain, now walks with a cane. Also has the face redness, peeling and ear peeling, scaling, sores on his scalp — these do not go away, they come and go with the ups & downs of his immune system. He also has yeast build up in his mouth, that can be as big as golf balls. After fighting this for 7 yrs he has it back again. This time in an artifical hip. Due to walking with the cane for so long, he developed arthritis in his hip. He went in to have it replaced, exactly 10 days later, he is septic again, this time with “regular” staph. After IV antibiotics don’t work, they take out the hip and discover a pocket of MRSA hiding behind the joint, and put in a “spacer” for 3 mos. October 1, put in a new hip and 10 days later, has it again. This time he is told he has HA-MRSA & CA-MRSA. They act different so don’t let anyone tell you they are the same. HA-MRSA is hosp acquired and lays dormant in the bloodstream and can reattack over & over, attacking weakest areas, especially artificial joints (wish someone told us that). It can colonize in the lungs & heart. CA-MRSA is community driven, can be passed like a cold, landing on sores etc. I hate it when people think he has “just MRSA”. Nurses & doctors can be so non-chalant about it because they see it all the time. I would like any of them to be in our shoes. He has had blood clots & even a subdural hemotoma in the brain. (which he was lucky to survived) The constant drugs take a toll on the body. Not only the physical problems, but the mental. This happened when my husband was 45 yrs old. He was never sick before, never took any meds. He lost his business, suffers from depression. I have a job with insurance or we couldn’t have survived this. HA-MRSA at that time only grew in a hosp, nursing home environment, but we could not sue. In our state, you have to prove where he got it: dirty instruments, surgeon or nurses hands, etc. Plus lawyers are greedy, don’t want cases when the plantive doesn’t make a huge living, for a loss of wages case. This has changed all of our lives and ruined my husbands.

• debra // Oct 10, 2007 at 6:07 am

  I had mrsa last year; it came out on my elbow as a boil, very painful. I knew mrsa was around, though, so I told the dr to test for that - and I was right, it was mrsa. Not sure where I got it - my old boyfriend had it bad, was treated several times, and I had to help drain boils where he couldn’t reach, if you get my meaning. But I never manifested it then. Two years later, THEN I get it.
  I have heard of (and tried) a remedy of cinnamon and honey - you take a tsp of each, and make a paste. If you’re not sick, just doing that once a day boosts your immune system. If you ARE sick with infection or virus, do this three times a day, supporting the absorption with drinking a good bit of water. This is a remedy that cannot hurt, is inexpensive, and I also read that in Japan and Australia, they are using this successfully to treat cancer of the bone and stomach. Please support your immune system with simple powerful remedies such as this, as well as vitamin C.

• CHALIE weaver // Oct 10, 2007 at 2:24 pm

  my mom contracted the blood infection type mrsa.most likely they dont like to talk about it because the antibiotics that treat it also cause other complications.it was explained to me we all have it in our nose our hands blah blah blah.when i requested an explanation of how it was in her knee eating away tissue and muscle ,eating away bowels ,heart and kidney they all became mute.the last infection they resorted back to regular old pennicillian.that bought a week.now they are trying to downplay blood born mrsa by giving us limited skin outbreak info .like a bad case of athletes foot.i want the answers to blood infected mrsa following doffler tube ,or catheter needs.i dont think they should be allowed to look us straight in the face and outright lie about it.yes i have the whitecoat syndrom.i absolutely despise people wearing white coats now.fool me once shame on you.ive since trashed my prescriptions,cancelled knee replacement and said adios to the dentist.at least right now there are only a couple things wrong with me.i wont risk thePROBABILITYof coming home worse off

• Brian // Oct 15, 2007 at 4:42 pm

  All- I went in for a simple Knee MCL Scope on Sept 13th…..after one of the two incisions becoming infected, I was rushed into a second scope surgery- this time they called it Septic arthritis..this took place on Oct 4th….only to be rushed into surgery again this past Friday- Oct 12th…this time my knee was cut open, to drain and clean…
  I have been swtiched from the vancomycin to Daptomycin….I will be on this for about 1-2 weeks…
  but wow- how a simple knee surgery went down hill in no time…..they did tell me that my bloodwork tested negative for staph or mrsa, but do not know why we are having to go to this extreme for treamtment….

• Fyn // Oct 17, 2007 at 10:56 am

  My son Isaac was just hospitalized for MRSA. His father had him for the weekend and took him to a local hospital for a swollen foot. They diagnosed him w/cellulitis and sent home on Amoxicilin and Darvocette. When his dad brought him home his foot was the size of a football. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t admitted to the hospital. After treating him w/the antibiotics and pain meds for 3 days, we awoke one morning to what looked like someone had placed a fire cracker between his toes and lit it. Skin was layed back, a very thick white puss was coming out of it and there was a tunnel in the side of his toe so deep we could see tendon and bone. I rushed him to our Children’s hospital and he was admitted immediately w/a preliminary diagnosis of MRSA. We were placed in isolation and lived there for a week while iv antibiotics were administered along w/a ton of pain meds. I am doing at home wound care and seeing the orthapedic surgeon once a week. He almost lost his toe(s). I am cleaning everything in sight, but can’t clean enough to satisfy myself. I can’t seem to find enough information on MRSA either. Does my son have this staph forever? My other son has ingrown hairs often that get very infected. Can this be MRSA? My daughter is pregnant, should she be around people w/MRSA? Do you always have MRSA or only when there are breakouts? Will all of his owies have potential to turn into MRSA? I have a bunch of medical problems and require coumadin therapy. I always have open sores from this. I am the primary care giver for my children. Do I have MRSA? Can a MRSA infection be on the inside and show no outward signs? This is much more horrible than I could have imagined.

• Sandra // Oct 17, 2007 at 4:28 pm

  I know you are going through a lot right now. This can get into your blood and it can be there without any outward signs. The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor, get a referral to an Infectious Disease doctor and be sure you follow standard safety procedures while cleaning and dressing the wound.

  Since you do have several ways for the infection to affect others, ask your doctor about it. I was told that anyone with a weakened immune system is more likely to get MRSA, but the type you are describing is the flesh eating one and it doesn’t seem to care so much about your immune system.

  If you go to the CDC website and do a search for MRSA or CA-MRSA they have some instructions on how to prevent the spread. Mostly it is wash your hands a lot.

  God Bless you. Sandy

• Sandra // Oct 17, 2007 at 4:33 pm

  I have been watching and listening to the news about the schools in VA that have been closed for cleaning after a young man died from MRSA. I am sorry for his death, but I wonder why it has taken the media so long to take this threat seriously.

  I also would like to know when the government is going to start issuing notice to doctors that they MUST tell patients what they have and how to prevent its spread, and also to make them start culturing any wound that isn’t healing on its own.

  If Medicare is going to stop paying for treatment of ‘preventable’ infections, the lawyers will be gearing up for massive lawsuits as well. Once it is determined that these infections can be minimized with a little effort, there will be law suits like nobody’s business.

  Currently, you can’t sue a hospital for an infection you got while admitted - unless you prove that they kept you in an unsafe environment unnecessarily, and you wouldn’t have gotten infected otherwise - which is pretty hard to prove.

  Personally, I would like to see criminal charges brought against any doctor or facility that fails to inform their patient’s that they have a deadly infection. That, to me, is murder.

• Justin // Oct 18, 2007 at 11:49 am

  I was hospitalized with MRSA in January of 2006. When systems first appeared, my doctor thought it was just cellulitis and gave me an oral prescription. Over the next 3-4 weeks symptoms got progressively worse. I work at a hospital, and my boss finally nagged me into going into the emergency room. They took my blood pressure and said “you’ll be fine, go home”.

  The next day I was in a great deal of pain and running a fever. I went back to my doctor, who tried to get me in to see an infectious disease doctor, but he couldn’t be bother for a least a week. The doctor decided this probably shouldn’t wait and had me admitted to a different hospital.

  Once I got to the hospital ER, they did a battery of tests and immediately put me on antibiotics. Got to spend 5 days in the hospital and another 30 on oral antibiotics.

  It started from a cut on my chin, tunneled all the way into the inside of my lip. They didn’t even admit to me it was MRSA until my 4th day in the hospital. Then again, I was on a mix of morphine and codeine for the first couple of days so I probably wouldn’t have remembered anyways.

  All said and done, I was off work for almost 4 weeks. They wouldn’t let me come back until it was cleared by my doctor. Very unpleasant experience.

• dld // Oct 18, 2007 at 1:21 pm

  My husband contracted MRSA while in the hospital about 7 years ago. It infected the area where his feeding tube was on his stomach. I wasn’t aware that he had caught this until he was transferred to a nursing home and they secluded him there until it colonized. He has been home for 6+ years and I don’t really know if it is anything we still need to worry about. I was hoping that someone here would be able to give me some insight. Thank you.

• cmm70 // Oct 18, 2007 at 6:56 pm

  Why are the schools letting kids go to school with mrsa at least they are in Texas. I do not understand you can go to school with mrsa which kills people but you get sent home for having lice in your hair. I am trying to get that state policy changed but there is alot of red tape. If any of you are from Texas please write your governor!! This policy needs to change!!!! If a student gets any form of staph they do NOT need to be allowed at school until it is at least scabed over then they need to have it covered! Please help with this by writing our govenor. Email me if you want his address. Do your part to stop the spread of MRSA!!

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