Information on Staphylococcal Infections from the National Library of Medicine
Staph is short for Staphylococcus, a type of bacteria. There are over 30 types, but Staphylococcus aureus causes most staph infections (pronounced ‘staff infections’), including:
Skin infections; Pneumonia; Food poisoning; Toxic shock syndrome; Blood poisoning (bacteremia). Skin infections are the most common. They can look like pimples or boils. They may be red, swollen and painful, and sometimes have pus or other drainage. They can turn into impetigo, which turns into a crust on the skin, or cellulitis, a swollen, red area of skin that feels hot.
Read more from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Information on MRSA from the National Library of Medicine
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It causes a staph infection (pronounced "staff infection") that is resistant to several common antibiotics. There are two types of infection. Hospital-associated MRSA happens to people in healthcare settings. Community-associated MRSA happens to people who have close skin-to-skin contact with others, such as athletes involved in football and wrestling. Infection control is key to stopping MRSA in hospitals. Read more from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
MRSA Information from the Centers for Disease Control
MRSA are staphylococci that are resistant to the antibiotic, methicillin, and other commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalosporins. These germs have a unique gene that causes them to be unaffected by all but the highest concentrations of these antibiotics. Therefore, alternate antibiotics must be used to treat persons infected with MRSA. Vancomycin has been the most effective and reliable drug in these cases, but is used intravenously and is not effective for treatment of MRSA when taken by mouth. Read more at the Centers for Disease Control.
Podcast: MRSA Information from the CDC
Key facts about MRSA infections in the United States, including schools and healthcare settings from the Center for disease Control.
Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of skin and soft-tissue infections.
Soft-tissue infections are common, generally of mild to modest severity, and are easily treated with a variety of agents. An etiologic diagnosis of simple cellulitis is frequently difficult and generally unnecessary for patients with mild signs and symptoms of illness. Clinical assessment of the severity of infection is crucial, and several classification schemes and algorithms have been proposed to guide the clinician. However, most clinical assessments have been developed from either retrospective studies or from an author's own "clinical experience," illustrating the need for prospective studies with defined measurements of severity coupled to management issues and outcomes. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Strategies to prevent transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in acute care hospitals.
These recommendations are primarily intended for the control of MRSA transmission in the setting of endemicity; however, they may also be appropriate for epidemic MRSA, with the exception of an accelerated time frame for implementation and the frequency at which outcomes are assessed. These recommendations are meant to be complementary to other general infection prevention measures...See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Management of multidrug-resistant organisms in healthcare settings, 2006.
GUIDELINE OBJECTIVE(S): To guide the implementation of strategies and practices to prevent the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and other multidrug-resistant organisms. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Abstract: Control of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the office and clinic.
Infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and Clostridium difficile, are usually considered hazards of in-patient care. However, the potential to acquire these organisms is not restricted to the acute or long-term care setting. Full text available free through PubMed.
Abstract: Prevalence of and risk factors for community-acquired methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus colonization in children seen in a practice-based research network.
Until recently, methiciilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections occurred most often in people with contact with health care institutions. Since the late 1990s, however,
community-acquired (CA)-MRSA infections have become common. These infections typically occur in immunocompetent hosts and range in severity from superficial skin and soft-tissue abscesses to invasive disease, including necrotizing pneumonia, pyomyositis, osteomyelitis, severe sepsis, and death. Full text available free through PubMed.
Abstract: Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in home care settings: prevalence, duration, and transmission to household members.
BACKGROUND: Several studies have documented prolonged colonization with hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) after hospital discharge. However, information is lacking about factors associated with prolonged MRSA colonization and MRSA transmission to household contacts. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: The effect of daily bathing with chlorhexidine on the acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, and healthcare-associated bloodstream infections: results of a quasi-experimental multicenter tri
OBJECTIVE: Spread of multidrug-resistant organisms within the intensive care unit (ICU) results in substantial morbidity and mortality. Novel strategies are needed to reduce transmission. This study sought to determine if the use of daily chlorhexidine bathing would decrease the incidence of colonization and bloodstream infections (BSI) because of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) among ICU patients. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Empiric antimicrobial therapy for pediatric skin and soft-tissue infections in the era of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
OBJECTIVE: The goal was to compare the clinical effectiveness of monotherapy with beta-lactams, clindamycin, or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in the outpatient management of nondrained noncultured skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs), in a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-endemic region. METHODS: A retrospective, nested, case-control trial was conducted with a cohort of patients from 5 urban pediatric practices in a community-acquired MRSA-endemic region. See Abstract at PubMed
Abstract: Epidemiologic and economic effect of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in obstetrics.
OBJECTIVE: To quantify the epidemiologic and economic burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in the obstetric population, identify main factors influencing the magnitude of disease, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of MRSA screening and decolonization. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Influenza-associated pediatric mortality in the United States: increase of Staphylococcus aureus coinfection.
OBJECTIVE: Pediatric influenza-associated death became a nationally notifiable condition in the United States during 2004. We describe influenza-associated pediatric mortality from 2004 to 2007, including an increase of Staphylococcus aureus coinfections. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus directly from clinical samples: methods, effectiveness and cost considerations.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates is a serious public health problem whose ever-increasing rate is commensurate with the pressure it is exerting on the healthcare system. At present, more than 20% of clinical S. aureus isolates in German hospitals are methicillin resistant. Strategies from low-prevalence countries show that this development is not necessarily inevitable. In the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, thanks to a rigorous prevention programme, MRSA prevalence has been kept at an acceptably low level (<1-3%). Central to these 'search and destroy' control strategies is an admission screening using several MRSA swabs taken from mucocutaneous colonisation sites of high-risk patients ('MRSA surveillance'). Full text available free through PubMed.
Looking for a Top-Rated
Infectious Disease Specialist or Primary Care Physician?
Consumers' Guide to Top Doctors finds the Doctors Rated Best by other Doctors
To find out who the top doctors are around the country, nonprofit Consumers' CHECKBOOK surveyed roughly 340,000 physicians to tell us which specialists they would want to care for a loved one. The Top Doctors database contains the names of over 23,000 doctors who were mentioned most often. Find top-rated doctors in the fifty largest metropolitan areas, in over thirty-five specialties, and more.
MRSA Organisms Under an Electron Microscope
Source: Wikimedia
MRSA Awareness for Parents
Source: Center for Disease Control
Consumers' Guide to Top Doctors finds the Doctors Rated Best by other Doctors in over 30 specialties.
Search Top Doctors
database of 23,000 top-rated physicians by
Doctor's Name
Search Top
Doctors database of 23,000 top-rated
physicians by Specialty
12 Steps to Prevent Antimicrobia Resistance among Hospitalized Adults
Source: Center for Disease Control
Consumers' Guide to Hospitals
Which Hospital Should You Choose
"What makes the Consumers' Guide to Hospitals so special?
We've got 30 million answers to that question. That's how many hospital records Consumers' CHECKBOOK sifted through to calculate risk-adjusted death rates and adverse-outcome rates, and that's just part of the data used to rate the hospitals. The organization also sent out more than 280,000 questionnaires to physicians in 53 major metropolitan areas in the United States, asking them to rate their local hospitals; checked ratings of the hospitals by surveyed consumers; checked which hospitals were providing recommended tests and procedures for patients with specified medical problems; and more."
AARP The Magazine
