Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus overview
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
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Overview
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is a type of staphylococcus that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems (see healthcare-associated MRSA).
MRSA infections that are acquired by patients who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are known as CA-MRSA infections. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people.
Epidemiology and Demographics
Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people carry some form of S. aureus. Of these 2 billion, up to 53 million (2.7% of carriers) are thought to carry MRSA. In the United States, 95 million carry S. aureus in their noses; of these 2.5 million (2.6% of carriers) carry MRSA. A population review conducted in 3 communities in the US showed the annual incidence of CA-MRSA during 2001–2002 to be 18–25.7/100,000 ; most CA-MRSA isolates were associated with clinically relevant infections, and 23% of patients required hospitalization.
Diagnosis
Symptoms
S. aureus most commonly colonizes the anterior nares (the nostrils) although the respiratory tract, open wounds, intravenous catheters and urinary tract are also potential sites for infection. MRSA infections are usually asymptomatic in healthy individuals and may last from a few weeks to many years.
Treatment
Surgery
The surgery for MRSA infections may be as simple and minimally invasive as a biopsy, but they can be more extreme when infected areas are surgically removed.