Drug resistant Staph

[Kapohocat]

quote:

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Originally posted by mella l...
When you are given an antibiotic and do not take the entire course prescribed in the method prescribed you might be helping bacteria become resistant!...
mella

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There is also evidence that the slew of antibacterial soaps have created part of the problem. We try to have our environments be so "clean" that we created super bugs. Maybe its time to go back to old ways with using vinegar and water, etc and plain old soap. To quote JFitz from another thread, maybe the best thing was to have done nothing new.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/levy.htm

In my parent's home, (the cliche "you could eat off the floor" applies), no one could figure out where my Dad go the bug. The only thing we could think of was the hose on the patio brushing against his leg a week or two beforehand. The last few years, the docs also rushed to give him antibiotics whenever he got a cold, or a cut of any kind.

[kimo wires]

How does one know if they are getting another MRSA infection?

Are there specific symptoms to look for?

Are oral antibiotics always necessary to clear it?

I had a nasty abcess and It took a month to clear...
I was on 2 types of antibiotics. Levaquin 500mg(once a day) and Doxycyl 100mg(twice daily)
I don't want to go through that again.




One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.

[missydog1]

I read an article written by a leading Kona doctor. He said that microbes reproduce quickly, and the trick is to not let them reproduce so that they have the upper hand. He advocated a lot of irrigation immediately after a skin breach. Literally wash the bacteria out. Don't rely on agents to kill the bacteria as the only defense, but try to dilute them first.

[maud gonne]

Our family's been through staph infections several times since we came to Hawaii, & my husband's been hospitalized twice with MRSA - the first time for a week and was near death until they came up with a cocktail of antibiotics that worked, the second time with what presented as cellulitis. Now we're on any tiny cut immediately with povidone (first), then if needed with bactrim ointment. But the hardest place to heal a problem wound is on the foot or between the toes. That seems to be where it usually starts - cracks between the toes that you don't feel or notice. I dry my feet & between the toes several times a day. You have to be so vigilant, and it's the only real downside to our otherwise lovely tropical lifestyle. Although as a previous poster said, MRSA is on the mainland as well so we can't totally blame it on our climate.

[lostboystoy]

Bananna sap kills staph it's nasty crap but it works it really is one of the few naterul antibacterials out their. Yes it will kill these hard to kill staph infections can be used external and internal.

setting my soul free....

[mella l]

This isn't just an island problem albeit the moist warm atmosphere is much more conducive to MRSA than drier climes.

I got this in the mid 90's while working for a florist. It started on my cheek and I thought it was a spider bite also. A pimple like rising but it was hot.

By day two it was weeping like a faucet, but there was no infection line radiating from the open sore. I went directly to the clinic as I didn't have a doctor in town yet.

Well that was a funny doctor's visit. He stood across the room from me over by the sink and faucet. Never touched me nor took a closer look at the ooze running down my face. He wrote a prescription don't remember what it was, but it was a 4 day course of medication I'd never heard of.

Luckily I healed, interesting enough there isn't scar one from this infection. It was the heat of the pimple like bump unlike any other and then the weeping dripping that alarmed me.

It's good to share this information. There seems to be much wider knowledge now of this problem. Hospital many of them are taking nose swabs from all patients being admitted to test for MRSA up front! Yep last I heard 8 out of 10 people are carriers.

Hospitals post in rooms "Did you see your doctor or nurse wash their hands"? If not ask them to wash now! I kid you not!

mella l

NO, really? Assume the best!

[force]

There are plenty of antibiotics that kill mrsa, and many do not need to be used in conjunction with bactrim. Zyvox, vancomycin, cubicin, gentamycin, levaquin, ciprofloxacin, rocephin, and more.

The big one is vanco right now, although new strains of mrsa are showing vanco resistive qualities now too. I imagine in hundreds of years there will be strains of staph that are resistive to all these. kind of scary to think about.

[Obie]

You folks might want to read these excerpts from the CDC.

What are Staph and MRSA?

Staph is Staphylococcus aureus or a type of bacteria that can cause infections ranging from skin to severe blood infections. MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a type of staph that is resistant to certain antibiotics. Staph and MRSA in the community usually cause skin infections that often first look like spider bites or bumps that are red, swollen, and painful. They might also be filled with pus. Cuts and scrapes and areas of the body that are covered by hair, like the back of your neck, groin, buttock, armpit, or inner thighs are common places where these skin infections appear. Both staph and MRSA skin infections are able to be treated.

How is Staph and MRSA spread?

Staph and MRSA infections are usually spread by having contact with someone’s skin infection or personal items they have used, like towels, bandages, or razors that touched their infected skin. These infections are most likely to be spread in places where people are in close contact with others — for instance, schools and locker rooms where athletes might share razors or towels.



What is the role of the environment in the spread of staph and MRSA?

The role of environment in the spread staph and MRSA in community settings is unclear. They are found on people and not naturally found in the environment. Staph and MRSA could get into the environment if your hands can pick up them by touching infected skin or certain areas of the body where these bacteria can live (like the nose). Then, if you touch a surface or item like a towel, your hands can pass the bacteria on to these items you have touched.
Another way that items can be contaminated with staph and MRSA is if they have direct contact with a person’s skin infection. Keeping infections skin infections covered with bandages is the best way to reduce the chance that surfaces will be contaminated with staph and MRSA.

[mdd7000]

"The role of environment in the spread staph and MRSA in community settings is unclear. They are found on people and not naturally found in the environment."

Thanks, Obie for finding and posting that. I was wondering how people would be getting staph infections from the ocean and Hot Pond when that water is quite salty. Like I have mentioned before, if the Hot Pond and similar locations are so dangerous, why do I see the same older people in them all the time? Wouldn't they have all succumbed to staph infections by now?

[Obie]

I believe the one documented case where the elderly gentleman died was from leptospirosis.



How do people get leptospirosis?

Outbreaks of leptospirosis are usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Many different kinds of animals carry the bacterium; they may become sick but sometimes have no symptoms. Leptospira organisms have been found in cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, rodents, and wild animals. Humans become infected through contact with water, food, or soil containing urine from these infected animals. This may happen by swallowing contaminated food or water or through skin contact, especially with mucosal surfaces, such as the eyes or nose, or with broken skin. The disease is not known to be spread from person to person.