There was an official study released Monday by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology that focuses on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (known also as MRSA). It says that the “Superbug”, so called for its remarkable resistance to common antibiotics, may be infecting as many as 5 percent of hospital and nursing home patients.

The Scary Truth
One thought that comes to mind for me is the recently cancelled series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. One of the characters went into the hospital to have a baby and is now critically ill with an infection. And while the series has not specifically revealed what sort of infection this character has, this is the type of situation that is becoming a harsh reality for more and more people in healthcare facilities today. You go into the hospital and within their walls you get sicker than you ever imagined due to MRSA.

It is a frightening truth. This bug is rampant in hospitals and always has been. What this study points out, though, is that the 5 percent estimate is ten times higher than past numbers.

How You Contract the Superbug
MRSA is spread simply by touch. Individuals with open wounds are especially susceptible. But, a simple cut or scrape can be enough to allow the germ to infect. MRSA can be spread by people who are not even ill or suffering from obvious symptoms. In the United States alone there are 95 million people who carry staph in their noses. 2.5 million of those people carry MRSA.

That should make you think twice the next time you see someone sneeze into their hand and then go right back to handling items in a store or the handle of a shopping cart.

An Even Scarier Truth
I find the report by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology to be irresponsible in its lack of scope. They are limiting their study findings and information to the issues in healthcare facilities, for the most part. When news outlets report the findings in the article, people are led to believe that this particular staph is only going to be of issue in healthcare facilities. It may induce some of the fear and awareness it needs to, but it is leaving out a very important detail that is important to absolutely everyone.

The drug-resistant staph germ (which is associated with skin infections, blood infections, pneumonia, soft tissue infections and other illnesses) is common in places like playgrounds, shopping cart handles and doorknobs, as well as the locker rooms that are sometimes mentioned in similar studies and articles.

My daughter has tested positive for MRSA three different times. She has not been hospitalized. She had, though, begun attending pre-school where she was exposed to many other children daily. She is not a sick child with open wounds, but she does have the occasional cut or scrape that comes from being four and playing hard.

What to Look For
As is typical, my daughter’s infection started as small red bumps that looked like pimples. They may also look like boils or spider bites. These little bumps were along her waistline and within days they were large abscesses that needed to be surgically drained. Although the bacteria usually remains confined to the skin, it can burrow into the body, causing life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.

The Solution is Simple
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s says washing your hands is all it takes to save the lives of 30,000 patients per year in the US (not just from MRSA, but from all nosocomial infections.)

Wash your hands often, carry hand sanitizer, use shopping cart seat covers and clean all cuts and scrapes quickly. There are also ointments on the market that inhibit the bacteria. We use one product regularly now on any and all cuts and scrapes. And, for the love of all that is good and holy, wash your hands after you sneeze. Or, just use a tissue.

The risk or MRSA is out there for all of us on a daily basis and not jus tin hospitals. Shopping carts, doorknobs, playgrounds, locker rooms, schools, and other public places are all suspect.

Read my second article on MRSA.