CAJ - MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)

History

The Staphylococcus Aureus bacterium was first discovered in the 1880s. At that time, the bacterium usually caused painful skin and soft tissue conditions, but it could also progress to serious illnesses, such as bacterial pneumonia and bacteria in the bloodstream.

When the antibiotic medicine penicillin was discovered in the 1940s, the treatment for Staphylococcus Aureus infections became routine. After some years, however, S.A. infections became resistant to penicillin. Therefore, a new medicine, similar to penicillin, was introduced: methicillin. But it was only a matter of time before the bacteria also developed resistance for this kind of medicine. This resistance is referred to the birth of MRSA – the first human case came in 1968.

Causes and Spread

Staph are common bacteria that can live in our bodies (mainly in our noses) and most people are not being infected by it. Nevertheless, those bacteria could be a problem if they get into the body, e.g. due to a cut. So, the risk of an infection increases immensely.  

When it comes to the spread of the disease, it is mainly transmitted by skin-to-skin contact and especially occurs in contact sports, like rugby, wrestling etc. But, of course, you can also contract MRSA when touching contaminated objects, such as towels, weight training equipment …

Symptoms

In most cases, MRSA appears as a skin infection, looks like a pimple, boil or spider bite and is usually red, painful and swollen. Sometimes staph bacteria also infect the lungs and cause pneumonia. The latter can be recognized by fever, shortness of breath, cough and chills.

Treatment

Most often, staph infections are minor and do not require special treatment. In those cases the doctor only makes an incision and drains the skin boil. In case of pneumonia or infected wounds, however, further treatment is needed – antibiotics. Over time, though, some strains of staph developed resistance to antibiotics, like penicillin, methicillin and many others. But, fortunately, other kinds of antibiotics still work.