MRSA(Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)MRSA is an acronym for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (and is sometimes referred to as MERSA), and it is an antibiotic resistant Superbug bacteria that grows in clusters, multiplies very rapidly and can cause many different kinds of infection, ranging from simple skin infections (boils, furuncles) to septicemia (infection of the bloodstream) and toxic shock syndrome, and is spreading rapidly in the United States and worldwide. MRSA is resistant to antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin. The difference between it and common staph infections is that MRSA is antibiotic-resistant and can become deadly. MRSA is popularly termed in the press as a "superbug". A new study by the Centers for Disease Control found that about 10 percent of common community-acquired MRSA strains are now impervious, not only to penicillin, but also to clindamycin, tetracycline, Bactrim and other antibiotics MRSA occurs most frequently among people in hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care facilities. But cases are increasingly being contracted in schools, households, correctional facilities and day-care centers. According to the CDC, "infections with significant antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, the types formerly seen only in hospitals, now have onset in the community - old diseases have learned new tricks." Communities across the country are reporting an increase in outbreaks of staph infections, particularly among athletes. MRSA bacteria can live on common surfaces such as tables or doorknobs for days or weeks and can be transmitted when someone touches an infected surface. Health officials believe many of the infections are being spread in gyms and locker rooms. An MRSA outbreak that spread among high school athletes in 2007 prompted the closure of dozens of schools for cleaning. In 2008, two high school football players died from MRSA infections - one from Philadelphia and one from central Florida. The number of cases of MRSA infections has increased by more than 90% during the last decade according to research from Princeton University. The growing number of MRSA cases reflects the increasing resistance of Staphylococcus bacteria to antibiotics. For the bigger scoop on superbugs, read science writer Maryn McKenna’s book, Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA. Or just listen to her interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air‘: ;“MRSA lives not just in people who are debilitated and ill and who are in hospitals but in all of us walking around all the time. But it was always thought — from about the 1960s when it first sparked up to the 1990s — that the only place where it was successful in attacking people was in hospitals because [patients] are debilitated and ill. And then in the 1990s, a group of researchers at the University of Chicago noticed that they were seeing infections in children that looked very like those hospital infections and yet these kids had never been anywhere near a hospital. And it turned out that there was a slightly different strain of staph that had adapted itself to live in the community and cause infections that are serious — and sometimes more serious — than the ones that were being caused in hospitals.” SYMPTOMS:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently calculated that MRSA is responsible for 95,000 serious infections and nearly 20,000 deaths per year in the United States. These numbers would make MRSA responsible for more deaths each year than AIDS. Sporicidin kills MRSA and VRE. Sporicidin Disinfectant Solution from Sporicidin International “provides 100% kill of disease and odor-causing vegetative organisms including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE),” the company said. The solution contains surfactants which also clean and deodorize mold, mildew, bacteria and fungi. In a 2½ year university study, it was found that Sporicidin is more effective than bleach on Stachybotrys, Chaetomium and Aspergillus organisms. The Sporicidin label lists it as effective against MRSA and Sporicidin is listed on the EPA web site as effective against MRSA. The Microban Germicidal Cleaner QGC label lists it also as effective against MRSA. Prevention tips:
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