I’ve been hearing lots of stories on the news about staph infections running rampant in schools, hospitals, prisons and poor neighborhood. This staph infection is called MRSA and it’s resistant to drugs. This is scary to me because I have 3 grandchildren in school. An invasive form of the disease is blamed for the death of a 17-year-old Virginia high school senior on Monday. The doctors said the germ had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and muscles around his heart. I just heard on our local news that a teen has contracted MRSA.
The best way to avoid infection from a potentially dangerous drug-resistant germ called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA is by practicing good hygiene:
Keep your hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed.
Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages.
Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.
The staph infection sometimes first shows on the skin as a red, swollen pimple or boil that may be painful or have pus. It can be spread by close skin-to skin contact or by touching surfaces contaminated with the germ.
Staphaseptic is an ointment that will prevent, not cure, staph infections like MRSA. You apply it to a minor cut, scrape or burn to kill MRSA before it has a chance to become a full-blown infection. Minor cuts, scrapes or burns is how MRSA can get into your system. It’s always a good thing to protect yourself anyway you can. If you think you may have a skin infection, contact your physician immediately.
I’m a little freaked out by this whole staph thing. My kids are student athletes, and that seems to be the population it’s attacking mostly.
Lisa: yes.. it’s very scary. Every time I turn on the news they’re talking about new cases that have shown up.
It’s amazing how much attention MRSA is getting today, considering how long it has been around.
As you mentioned, there is no substitute for good hygiene and frequent, quality hand washing to minimize the spread of infection.
There are also several good products available to help combat the spread of these germs. Sani-Guard sprays, foggers and hand sanitizers kill a wide variety of disease-causing microorganisms on contact and, unlike other brands I have tried, they dry on contact, so you don’t have any residue. The hand sanitizer actually comes in a small tube with a keychain cap, which makes it ideal to attach to my kid’s backpacks for shcool.
In addition, the same company also makes a special antimicrobial coating for plumbing and hardware that is used in schools, prisons, hospitals, cruise ships and elsewhere. It uses a patented silver-ion technology that lasts for the life of the product. The silver disrupts the microorganism’s metabolism and reproductive cycle so that they cannot grow on the surface of the treated products. It’s a low cost option to help combat these germs.