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More info about MRSA.

A type of infection that used to be seen only in hospitals has become increasingly common among the general public.

But health officials say there’s no reason to panic. Just be vigilant and wash your hands.

For decades, hospitals have been fighting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterial infection that cannot be cured with widely used antibiotics such as penicillin. The illness usually affects the skin, but can also spread to the bloodstream and internal organs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1974 only 2 percent of staph infections in hospitals were MRSA. By 1995, MRSA accounted for 22 percent, and by 2004, 63 percent.

Infections of any kind are always a risk when someone is hospitalized, especially when they are critically ill and are hooked up to devices such as feeding tubes and IVs, on which bacteria can grow.

What’s disturbing is that MRSA is now showing up in people who have never received treatment in a hospital.

“We originally thought that what we were seeing was MRSA in hospitals ‘leaking’ out into the community,” said Nicole Coffin, a spokeswoman for the CDC. “But with further research, we found that it was essentially a different strain of bug.”

No one knows for sure why this “community-acquired” MRSA is becoming more prevalent. But Coffin said the dominant theory is that overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of drug-resistant germs.

“It’s misleading to call MRSA a ’superbug,’” Coffin said. “It’s not resistant to every antibiotic.”

Not yet, anyway. But studies suggest that even some of the broad-spectrum antibiotics are losing their effectiveness.

I wonder how many of these people in the community, who have MRSA, are actually health care workers?

Coffin said about 30 percent of people carry staph bacteria in their nasal passages, even if they’re not sick, and about 1 percent have the drug-resistant type.

When a person’s immune system is compromised, such as when they get the flu or they’re in a traumatic accident, the dormant MRSA germs can start proliferating.

“Even if they have no symptoms when they come into the hospital, the infection can be activated at any time,” said Meisch. “That’s why we have to isolate them.”

If the patient comes into the hospital and already has a wound that is draining pus, a culture is performed to check for MSRA.

Coffin said the infection can occur in anyone who has “compromised” skin. “That includes cuts, abrasions, turf burns,” she said.

Athletes need to be especially careful, because they’re more likely to have such injuries and they also come into close physical contact with each other. But Coffin said it’s a myth that community-acquired MRSA is an athlete’s disease.

“You can’t assume that because you’re not involved in sports, you can’t get it,” she said. “Everyone in the community is potentially at risk. And what’s unusual about it is that it seems to affect people who are normally healthy.”

Coffin said some MRSA infections are mild, resulting in nothing more than pimple-like nodules or boils.

“But if you have a skin infection of any kind, you need to go to the doctor,” she said. “MRSA can become invasive and can even result in death, though that’s rare.”

Health care workers needs to be especially careful I think. We wash our hands and wear gloves and gowns and all that. But, we are still exposed to these germs every day. Heed the advice here: Any kind of skin issue- infection or cluster of “pimples’ that don’t go away can be a MRSA infection.