MRSA and CA-MRSA topics

[Mom 2em All]

my husband has had four MRSA outbreaks, three times requiring surgery/drains/IV antibiotic- the last time daily for a month getting Vancomycin. we were just told to wash well after cleaning his wounds/changing his bandages, and that he should be certain he always washes his hands.
Nobody in our house has caught MRSA from him.

Incidently, I have cellulitis and had abscess surgery in my left forearm this week. Cultured NO MRSA. Alot of people I work with want to think I caught MRSA with my husband, but I didnt . Cultures may show staph, but it all boils down to the fact that my system didnt fight off the bacteria well after I sustained a bite at work. Not from catching anything from my husband.

I dont think you need to worry about your daughter. Just teach her to wash her hands well after handling anything your niece has been handling.

 

[EweSheep]

Would niece's MRSA will pass down to her children? Wondered if MRSA are like AIDS.

 

[booker81]

MRSA is not like AIDS. To pass it on, the carrier would need to have an active infection, and the recipient would need to have a wound, and even then, the recipient would need to have a lowered immunity to fight it off. It's not like an active infection through the whole body (like AIDS) that is easily passed. Babies don't have much of an immune system, so yes, they can "catch" it if the circumstances are right, but it's not an automatic given.

It CAN be passed to a child being born, not the unborn child. To "infect" the baby, the mother would need to have an active untreated infection right where the baby comes....out....and the docs would have to not be treating it. Or, the baby would have to be in contact with active infection on the mother (ie sores from breastfeeding that are not treated), etc. Good care in hand-washing, cleanliness, and wound treatment and coverage would prevent passing MRSA to a child.

Think of MRSA like...athlete's foot. It's something you can get if you give it every chance to grow, and it can be transmissible, but if you take care of things (good hygiene, not sharing stuff while dealing with an active infection, covering and treating when necessary), the likelihood of spreading it is very small. If you are silly about it and don't take care of it, you can end up with a whole lot of no fun, and can share with other folks if they don't take precautions.

Of course, athlete's foot is easier to treat, and is a fungal infection, not bacterial. However, obviously there is no "cure" for it and it will continue to plague folks forever. Probably not the best analogy, but the best I can come up with at 6am

It's a lot closer than comparing to AIDS or any other highly infective disease