What Is the MRSA Virus?

Contrary to popular belief the MRSA virus is actually a strain of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) received its name because this strain of bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin.

MRSA Virus Symptoms

MRSA virus symptoms can manifest as a single red bump that resembles a pimple, pustule, or boil. It may also look like a cluster of red bumps. The bump may be red, swollen, warm, painful, and have pus or other drainage.

MRSA skin infections commonly occur at sites of visible skin trauma (such as cuts and abrasions) and areas of the body covered by hair (such as the back of the neck, groin, buttocks, armpits, and beard area of men).

MRSA is contagious, and can be spread through direct contact with:

• Someone who has an active MRSA virus infection
• Someone who has been colonized
• A contaminated object.

Testing for the MRSA Virus

A sample can be taken from the infection site and sent to a laboratory for testing. It takes about 48 to 72 hours for the results. If S. aureus (staph) is found, the organism will be further tested to determine which antibiotic is the most effective treatment.

Newer tests are becoming more widely available that can detect staph DNA in a matter of hours. This will help healthcare providers decide on the proper treatment for a person more quickly.

For individuals who may not have any MRSA symptoms, nasal secretions can also be tested for the MRSA virus.

For diagnosing more serious MRSA virus infections within the body, healthcare providers may recommend x-rays, a CT scan, and/or blood tests.

Who Does the MRSA Virus Affect

The trouble with MRSA is that it tends to strike mostly in hospitals.  Patients, who have had operations, are already ill from cancer and other immune threatening diseases, and those who have had invasive devices are at the highest risk of getting the MRSA virus, but they are not alone.

Prison inmates, as well as students who live in dorms, who both live in cramped and often unhygienic conditions, are also at risk, as are the elderly, young children, diabetics, and drug users who use needles.  Those who work with animals and even those who spend time in cramped areas like gym locker rooms are also known to be at higher risk of contracting MRSA.

It is estimated that up to 7 percent of people in hospitals and up to 2 percent of the general population are colonized with MRSA, either on the skin or within their nose (the two most common areas).

MRSA Virus Treatment

At this point, if the disease is caught early enough, treatment with a couple of very strong antibiotics, particularly vancomycin, has been shown to work.  There are also ongoing studies into new drugs, based on everything from garlic to mushrooms, and some of these have yielded positive results.

Often, because there is sometimes limited time in which to wait for test results, patients are treated for the MRSA virus based on the strong suspicion by the attending doctor, which gives you some idea of just how serious this type of infection can be.

Aside from very strong antibiotics, treatment for the MRSA virus may also include surgery to remove affected tissue, and more experimental treatments such as those using maggots.

The only thing that is certain when dealing with MRSA is that people who have been affected must be treated swiftly and aggressively, as there are still thousands of deaths every year from this deadly infection.

 

Mutated Diseases

One of the biggest problems that doctors and others in the medical profession face when treating diseases, like the MRSA virus, is that the diseases themselves mutate over time.

That mutation means that the disease becomes resistant to the most commonly used treatments, and it becomes very difficult to successfully heal a patient who has contracted them.

In the case of MRSA, the name itself is a giveaway: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or multi drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  It is a mutated form of the Staphylococcus bacteria – usually easy to treat with beta-lactam antibiotics – but in this case resistant to most types of antibiotic. The mutation has occurred because of the prolonged use of the same types of drugs to cure infections, but it means that something that should be easy to cure is now potentially fatal.