Protect your Family from MRSA and Staph

A mother takes her 17 year old to the doctor because his side was hurting. Appendicitis was suspected, but then ruled out. Several weeks in and out of the hospital offered no answers. Then he takes a turn for the worse an in a week is dead. A 4 year old girl dies after several weeks in the hospital. Parents throughout the United States are realizing that our children are under attack. There is an invisible killer that out there, a killer that does not discriminate and can appear in many different forms. It attacks the body in various forms and can masquerade as a variety of illnesses. As it evades detection it moves through the body wreaking havoc. Often, death is a very real reality. This invisible killer is M.R.S.A., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that causes staph infection. The frightening thing about this bacteria is that it is resistant to treatment with many of the usual antibiotics. And it is a killer. In 2005, MRSA was responsible for an estimated 19,000 deaths in the United States alone.

So what can you do to protect yourself? What are the symptoms of MRSA? What puts you at risk for being infected with MRSA?

MRSA was once considered to be connected to healthcare settings. People who had undergone invasive medical procedures or have weakened immune systems, or those who were being treated in hospitals and healthcare facilities, were considered to be the ones at risk. However, recent events are showing us that the MRSA of the eighties has reemerged and it is tougher and deadlier than ever.

While MRSA can be rather mild when a widespread infection attacks a community, what we are seeing lately is something that is frightening and can even be fatal. It is vital that everyone take precautions to protect themselves from this "super bug."

The Centers for Disease Control refer to staph or MRSA infections that attack a person who has not been recently hospitalized or had an invasive medical procedure as Community Associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. Here is how to protect yourself.

Symptoms

The majority of infections caused by MRSA are soft tissue or skin infections. They may appear in the form of abscesses or cellulitis.

Abscess
* A pus filled pocket that develops at the site of an injury. It may look like a pimple. The injury can just as easily be a tiny scratch as it can be an open wound.
* The area of skin around the "pocket," or abscess,

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