Do any of you that have MRSA know just how contagious it is? The reason I ask is that while doing some online research, I saw that a person w/ MRSA that is hospitalized has to be basically isolated in a private room and that the health care workers have to wear gloves, aprons, etc. I just was curious if I'm contagious only to people w/ weakened immune systems or to the general population? From what I can tell, there is a MRSA that is in the lungs & a different type that is on your skin, that sports teams, etc have spread to each other. Maybe this is the one where you have to be isolated from everyone while in the hospital or maybe it's both types?Can anyone offer some knowledge here and thanks in advance.
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MRSA
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
AbsintheSorrow
New member
I have MRSA. Got it when I was 16.. and really haven't had any trouble from it since I was 17. But they still isolate me when I go overnight. My own hospital room, and I can't leave without gowning up, and everyone that comes in has to be really careful. I think (think being the key word, I'm not sure) that it's really only a lung problem for people with weak immune systems. But I may be wrong. <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
mrsa is the same whether it is in your lungs or on your skin. its just different places where an infection from it can pop up. you MUST be isolated if you have it. but it doesnt mean you have to hide away from the world either. mrsa is passed around mostly by medical staff. they go into a room with an mrsa patient, dont wash their hands, walk into another room and give it to that person. if you are in isolation you are also less likely to touch everything. anyone can get mrsa. its just people with weakened immune systems catch it more easily. its dangerous for us becauseof all the procedures we have done. eg picc lines etc, sinus ops, port placements. these wound sites can get infected if you have mrsa. with the sports team thing, they can pass it around pretty easily if one of the team has it. mrsa can be passed through sweaty surfaces, so you can imagine what a locker room and gym equipment is like when it comes to sweat. ew!with all that said i feel quite safe being in a room for a couple of hours with someone who has mrsa, without gowning up etc. as long as they dont cough or touch me and i wash my hands thoroughly. its the nurses you gotta watch out for!
If anyone is stillr eading this MRSA topic, please respond!My six almost 7 year old son has MRSA and I am SOO confused as to the isolation and treatment and health of him. Sam has CF and has not been hospitalized for over a year, his MRSA was contacted outside from the medical profession. This leads me to believe he is on too many anti bitoics and therefore has an EXTRA low immune system. He is on Cipro AGAIN, for this and his make a wish trip is next week. Do we risk others health taking him???ThanksMurgie
i doubt anti bitoics have caused your sons mrsa. it can be caught from anywhere, but mainly the hospital, cf clinics and gp surgeries. being in the wrong place at the wrong time is all it takes. as long as the people he is around dont have an illness then he is not risking them. healthy people have a low chance of catching mrsa. its good your son is young. he has a better chance of getting rid of mrsa if hes young and in relatively good health. i had it when i was little and managed to get rid of it without vancomycin etc. i highly doubt id be so lucky now if i caught it again.
Murgie,I'm not sure if being on antibiotics too much causes our immune system to be decreased. Unfortunately, the lower immune system is just a part of having CF. I do wonder if steroids do cause that, though. His MRSA may not even respond to Cipro, though. I've recently been diagnosed w/ MRSA and ordered a copy of my sputum culture & it said my MRSA was resistant to Cipro & that's what my Dr Rx for me <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif" border="0"> , so that was a whole other story I won't share here!I think minocycline would be a good option for your son, please ask your Dr about this. And then again, he may be sensitive to Cipro, where I wasn't & it's doing it's job just fine.I got a good ole staph infection when I was about his age & got over it w/ shots. Now just recently I've been dx w/ MRSA. I'm wondering where I got it too like you're wondering. I bet we'll never know!The precautions he could take at all Dr's appts are, maybe sit away from other kids/patients so as not to share MRSA w/ them and cough into napkins/kleenex. Does he have to wear a mask at the CF Clinic anyway, if so that should take care of it there. My Dr assured me that I could only spread this to immune compromised people, (i.e. chemo patients, CF people, and others w/ compromised immune systems). I asked about kissing my husband or daughter on the lips & I was assured that I wouldn't spread it to healthy people & even if I did spread it to them that their immune system would kick it out right away. I hope this has helped!
My daughter, 20 months old, showed MRSA in a throat sample three months ago. The last two samples did not show MRSA. I don't know if it is still there. She showed no symptoms. She has not been on antibiotics for 6 months and she is in pretty good health.I am convinced she caught it at the hospital, as her MRSA was resistant to hospital antibiotics (pefloxacine, tobramycine) even if she has not been hospitalised more than one day long each time. Now we do not go to the hospital again, as the physician want us to come on a special day, when only people with resistant germs come...Hope this helps...
i seriously hate the idea of clinics making special days for people with resistant bugs. its a BAD idea. peoples bugs are always changing and if they get lucky and their resistant bugs turn sensitive, then there is a high chance they will just be reinfected with the resistant bug by the special clinic. i was treated like i had mrsa for about 2 years after i had been cleared. luckily though, there were no special clinics back then [just common sense!] and i was never 'reinfected'.
Read the article in November 2004 issue of "Men's Health" and you will see the alarming increase of MRSA in healthy, athletic men all over the country. This disease can be fatal to otherwise healthy men who frequent locker rooms and gyms. MRSA also affects gay men, military men,
incarcerated men, and others who are in close contact. So, not only sick people are at risk. Watch out for pimples or boils on the buttocks all you healthy people who think you are safe! Steve, San Diego, CA
incarcerated men, and others who are in close contact. So, not only sick people are at risk. Watch out for pimples or boils on the buttocks all you healthy people who think you are safe! Steve, San Diego, CA
Read the article in November 2004 issue of "Men's Health" and you will see the alarming increase of MRSA in healthy, athletic men all over the country. This disease can be fatal to otherwise healthy men who frequent locker rooms and gyms. MRSA also affects gay men, military men,
incarcerated men, and others who are in close contact. So, not only sick people are at risk. Watch out for pimples or boils on the buttocks all you healthy people who think you are safe! Steve, San Diego, CA
incarcerated men, and others who are in close contact. So, not only sick people are at risk. Watch out for pimples or boils on the buttocks all you healthy people who think you are safe! Steve, San Diego, CA
AbsintheSorrow
New member
I may be wrong... but I think you're (the last poster) talking about the skin type of MRSA, not the kind that affects CFers in the lungs. When we get MRSA, it's in the lungs and causes a lot of damage. What you're talking about is on the skin ('pimples and boils" as you said). It could be the same MRSA, I don't really know a whole lot about it as far as the actual bacteria goes. But that's the impression I get. If I'm wrong, someone correct me.
AbsintheSorrow
New member
I may be wrong... but I think you're (the last poster) talking about the skin type of MRSA, not the kind that affects CFers in the lungs. When we get MRSA, it's in the lungs and causes a lot of damage. What you're talking about is on the skin ('pimples and boils" as you said). It could be the same MRSA, I don't really know a whole lot about it as far as the actual bacteria goes. But that's the impression I get. If I'm wrong, someone correct me.
Emeraldmirror
New member
What is MRSA?
Ashley 20 w/cf
Ashley 20 w/cf
Emeraldmirror
New member
What is MRSA?
Ashley 20 w/cf
Ashley 20 w/cf
AbsintheSorrow
New member
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.... basically a really resistant form of staph. Hard to get rid of. I had it when I was 16.. and when I go into the hospital, they still quarantine me because of it.
AbsintheSorrow
New member
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.... basically a really resistant form of staph. Hard to get rid of. I had it when I was 16.. and when I go into the hospital, they still quarantine me because of it.
Hey all...
I have MRSA...I was diagnosed with it when I was 17. Before I knew I had it, I felt sick and my mucus was really thick and hard to cough up and I was getting a slight fever. My doc prescribed doxycycline and it hasn't given me a problem since. When in the hospital the nurses wear masks in and out of my room and when I leave the room I have to wear a mask until I get off of the cf floor.
The MRSA hasn't given me any problems since it's been treated.
Take care all!
-erin <img src="i/expressions/musicnote.gif" border="0">
19/f/cf <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
I have MRSA...I was diagnosed with it when I was 17. Before I knew I had it, I felt sick and my mucus was really thick and hard to cough up and I was getting a slight fever. My doc prescribed doxycycline and it hasn't given me a problem since. When in the hospital the nurses wear masks in and out of my room and when I leave the room I have to wear a mask until I get off of the cf floor.
The MRSA hasn't given me any problems since it's been treated.
Take care all!
-erin <img src="i/expressions/musicnote.gif" border="0">
19/f/cf <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">