MRSA
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus " is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria —
often called "staph." Decades ago, a strain of staph emerged in hospitals that
was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it.
Dubbed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the
first germs to outwit all but the most powerful drugs. MRSA infection can be
fatal.
Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the
nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or
in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected
with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects.
However, they can pass the germ to others.
Staph bacteria are
generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound,
and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. But
in older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems,
ordinary staph infections can cause serious illness.
In the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the
wider community. Today, that form of staph, known as community-associated
MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for many serious skin and soft tissue
infections and for a serious form of pneumonia."
(Source:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735)
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