Are You At Risk For MRSA?
MRSA is an antibiotic resistant form of staph infections. While it used to be found only in hospitals and other health institutions, it can now be found throughout the general population. By knowing when you are at risk of contacting the disease, you can help take the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of infections.
There are two main kinds of MRSA – hospital acquired and community acquired. The risk factors of the two strains differs somewhat.
For hospital acquired MRSA you have to have been in a hospital or other health care facility as the name implies in order to contract the disease. Here is a look at some of the most common risk factors.
If you are in the hospital, or have been recently in the hospital, MRSA is a concern. In hospitals MRSA has contact to the most vulnerable patients, including the elderly, those with weakened immune systems because of illnesses or medications, and patients with wounds from burns, accidents, and surgeries. Estimation from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology puts approximately 1.2 million patients being infected with MRSA. Another 423,000 are colonized with the bacteria.
Residents of long-term care facilities, like nursing homes, are even more at risk than hospitalized patients. In long-term care facilities, patients may have the opportunity to leave their room and socialize with other patients, giving them the ability to spread MRSA even if they do not have any symptoms.
If you have any invasive devices being used as part of our treatment, you can be at risk for MRSA. Dialysis, catheterization, and feeding tubes are all common treatments and medical procedures that can put you at risk.
If you have been on antibiotics, particularly ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, and cephalosporin, can weaken your immune system and cause you to be more susceptible to MRSA.
Community acquired MRSA happens in the general community – often among people who have never even set foot in a hospital. This can make it particularly difficult to track and prevent. Certain people in the population are at a higher risk of MRSA than others.
Children can be particularly at risk of MRSA, and it can be quite dangerous to them since their immune systems are not fully developed. Plus, children tend to be active, making them more prone to cuts and scrapes where MRSA can enter their systems. Young adults and children are also at a higher risk of developing severe cases of pneumonia.
Recently, contact sports have become targets for MRSA infections. Sports players at all levels can spread MRSA through cuts and scrapes and the skin to skin contact that comes with the game. Along similar lines, sharing towels and athletic equipment at public and private gyms can put athletes at risk.
Persons with weakened immune systems, and those who have HIV/AIDS, are at a particular risk for MRSA. Not only are they more susceptible to the bacteria, they can have a much harder time fighting off severe infections caused by it.
Living conditions can also affect your risk factors. People living in close proximity, as in military training camps or prisons, and those with direct contact with health care workers are also at risk.
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