|
MRSA Staphylococcus
aureus,"staph," are bacteria found throughout our
environment and commonly carried on the skin or in the nose
of healthy people. Approximately 25%to 30% of the population
is colonized (when bacteria are present, but not causing an
infection) in the nose with staph bacteria. Sometimes, staph
can cause an infection. Staph bacteria are one of the most
common causes of skin infections in the United States. Most
of these skin infections are minor (such as pimples and
boils) and can be treated without antibiotics. However,
staph bacteria also can cause serious infections or invasive
infections such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream
infections, and pneumonia. In the 1960's the antibiotic
methicillin was commonly used to treat Staph infections.
This lead to the development of strains of Staph-MRSA (Methicillin
Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) that are resistant to
methicillin as well as other antibiotics such as oxacillin,
penicillin, amoxacillin. While 25% to 30% of the population
is colonized with staph, approximately 1% is
colonized with MRSA. |
