MRSA, The “Super Bug”

Alexander Fleming's famous discovery of penicillin in 1928 ushered in a triumphant new era of medicine, as antibiotics began to whup every bacteria-based disease from pneumonia to ear aches. But as the 20th century came to a close, science saw its darling super drugs fall victim to their own success. The widespread usage of antibiotics led to widespread bacterial adaptations with antibiotic resistance –    so much so that the World Health Organization eventually declared antibiotic resistance to be a global threat to public health.

Super drugs, meet the super bug: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is an infection caused by a type of staph bacteria that's become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections.

There are two types of MRSA. The most common infects people who have spent some time in hospitals and other health care settings, and is associated with invasive procedures such as intravenous intubation and surgery. The second is spread by skin-to-skin contact.

MRSA symptoms are similar to all staph skin infections' symptoms, and include fever, along with painful red bumps resembling spider bites or pimples that may warm to the touch and be full of pus. These bumps can deteriorate into deep abscesses requiring surgical draining if not caught in time. See a doctor if any wound, cut, pimple or “insect bite” you have appears to be infected.

Because MRSA infections are more difficult to treat than others, it is not unusual for it to spread from your skin into your bloodstream, lungs, bones, joints and even your heart. MRSA infections can be life-threatening, but happily the number of people dying from the ailment has been declining.

Your doctor will take a tissue sample or nasal secretion to make her diagnosis. If MRSA is confirmed, your doctor may opt to treat it by draining the superficial abscess caused by the infection. If draining it will not suffice, drug treatments are limited, but still available. MRSA is resistant to the usual antibiotic players – methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and cephalorsporins – but lindamycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or linezolid remain options. Invasive MRSA can be treated intravenously with Vancomycin.