MRSA? CHRONIC

[dcoy1146]

 
I have had chronic,  painful mrsa for more then ten years. Anyone else have these types of bacterial,  chronic skin infections?  I am sure miserable when I flare with this and usually  need IV antibiotics for a long duration. 

[Tivia]

I am going to plead ignorant here, I had no idea that could be chronic. I hope they can get it under control, I am assuming its drug resistant to have become chronic. So sorry to hear that.

[DryGuy]

There are different types of MRSA, meaning community MRSA and health care associated. Which do you have?  MRSA can be found in the nares of a decent portion of the gen pop. The way MRSA in the nares is handled in a hospital setting is with Bactroban ointment in the nares daily. Perhaps elaborate in your specific issues and I might be able to help you.

[Tracyrose]

I have had issues with infections that are tested for mrsa and then come back negative . Its very alarming and painful and leaves scars!!! Did they have you put mupricin in your nose ?

[cccourt1942]

This is an amazing post...to me! I brought my first child home from the hospital with staph.  This was back in the dark ages when mothers were left in the hospital for a week.  I was sent home and told to do the following:  break each pustule with a clean end of a qtip...dipped in alcohol.  It progressed after bringing the little red head home!  Scream?  I can still hear.  Then I was to take MORE fresh qtips and dab each pustule with diaparene.  I want to say it was all gone within a month.  Also, he was to be medicated with diaparene at night..and left to sleep without a diaper.  all clothing, diapers (yes..we washed diapers) and bedding was rinsed in a product I long ago forgot name.  It was horrible...the nurses and doctors scared the beejeezus out of me as to his hands touching a pustule and putting it in his mouth.  My mom sent her maid home with me for two weeks...she would hold his arms up and I would diaper.  That child is 52 now.  I still hear of staph breakouts in hospital nurseries.  I cannot believe you can carry this external infection and not be contagious to others.  I thought it was terribly contagious. 

Bless your heart.  SjS AND this.  Oh God...#1 on my list to be thankful for today is I "only" have psoriasis!

YOu take care dear...and hope your day goes well for you! 

[irish]

MRSA is everywhere and with that being said do not panic. There are many forms of staph and the aureus is the one that is the culprit most of the time. There is one found on the skin called staph epiderm----cant spell the rest of it!!!! This form can cause some very yukky looking infections from time to time.

The staph in hospitals can be wicked many times and required lots of nursing time, meds, etc. Surprisingly some people respond to treatment better than others. Staph can be fatal for some people. The community acquired staph is the one that worries me the most as this is the one that can more often become chronic. People can get it off of gym equipment and you will hear that football teams, etc will have outbreaks of the bug.

The most interesting thing about the whole thing is that some people, when exposed, will never become infected with the bug or many other bugs for that matter. It all has to do with the immune system. There are 6 things that have to take place(if I remember correctly) for a person to get an infection. These are glitches that can occur that make us at risk. This can be a break in the skin, etc to 5 other glitches that have to line up like stars, so to speak, for the infection to be introduced and take hold.

The biggest thing we can do is wash hands, wash hands, wash hands, etc and also get rid of the dirty hand towel. Change hand towel frequently or else use paper towels or wash clothes, rags, etc that can be washed and reused.

The other thing is the chronic MRSA in the nose when cultured. Some people are carriers all their life but seldom become infected. This does not mean that they are causing others to be at risk---though they should make sure to wash their hands after blowing their nose, etc. The truth is that a huge percentage of the population is carrying MRSA in their nose at any given time. The really interesting thing is that this percentage of infected noses doesn't change all that much, but the people with the positive cultures do. In other words we all carry it at one time or another and then it goes away and then can come back, etc. It is the nature of the beast.

My ENT says that in surgery they always just plan on everyone being a carrier of MRSA and take the proper precautions. He said that you can't get away from the chronic carrier issue. I was a chronic carrier for years and finally it left. My hubby was a chronic carrier also. I was always very careful about the things that I could control cleanliness wise in my home as I was concerned about the grandkids. With all the horrible infections hubby and I had the grandkids never got anything. If the did become a MRSA carrier they didn't become physically ill.

The skin issues are sometimes hard to deal with, but there are MRSA sites on line that can give you some hints about hygiene and care of skin that might help. Also, always check with your doc before doing anything as some treatments could interfere with other meds etc or be hazardous to your health. Remember that their are some nutty people out there who will try anything.

The 2 products that are being used more these days are the oldies, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide and you need instructions as to dilution of product with water. Remember that vinegar fumes can be hard on the airways. For those of you who can get hyped up over the use of bleach remember that this is a hazardous substance and the fumes can literally send you to the emergency room in big respiratory trouble.

We live in a world that is literally controlled by huge infections. Most of the bacteria are becoming resistant to drugs and every time we injure our tissues we need to clean up the area appropriately. Remember to treat the sandbox/outside play injuries that your kids get also. I had a kid wipe out on a bike in 1976 and he ended up with a bad staph on his knee that required hot packs and meds for about a month. Middle son then got a pimple on his eyelid and a fever of 102 and into the doc he went. He was not even cultured and they treated him as a staph infection. They couldn't waste the 48 hour culture time as the eyelid infection can go into the eye and then to the brain.

In the midst of this I started using bleach when I washed towels and occasionally lysol as I felt that towels were the biggest vehicle for transfer of germs involving skin staph. There are some of the most simple techniques a person can think of to use to help prevent the spread of bacteria. When I was in the midst of my horrible infections of staph and everything else, I would wash hands in the kitchen a lot and I kept a drawer of wash clothes that I dried my hands on. Used during that food prep and then into the wash it went. I wash all my kitchen towels together. I am talking too much. The end. Irish