What is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a type of staphylococcus or “staph” bacteria that are resistant to many antibiotics. Staph bacteria, like other kinds of bacteria, normally live on your skin and in your nose, usually without causing problems. MRSA is different from other types of staph because it cannot be treated with certain antibiotics such as methicillin. Staph bacteria only become a problem when they cause infection. For some people, especially those who are weak or ill, these infections can become serious. MRSA infections are more difficult to treat than ordinary staph infections. This is because the strains of staph that are known as MRSA do not respond well to many types of antibiotics, which are the types of medicines normally used to kill bacteria. When methicillin and other common antibiotic medicines do not kill the bacteria that is causing an infection, it becomes harder to get rid of the infection. MRSA bacteria are more likely to develop when antibi
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. This organism is known for causing skin infections in addition to many other types of infections. There are other designations in the scientific literature for these bacteria according to where the bacteria are acquired by patients, such as community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA), hospital-acquired or health-care-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA), or epidemic MRSA (EMRSA). A number of Web and popular press articles are titled or include the erroneous term “MRSA virus.” This is a misnomer; there is no contagious MRSA virus, and if readers examine these articles, they may realize the content is usually about MRSA bacteria. Although S. aureus has been causing infections (Staph infections) probably as long as the human race has existed, MRSA has a relatively short history. MRSA was first noted in 1961, about two years after the antibiotic methicillin was initially used to treat S. aureus and other infectious bacteria. The re
Related Questions
- If I have had a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection or been told that I carry MRSA, am I at high risk for developing a serious MRSA infection if I get seasonal influenza?
- Has the publication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) treatment guidelines increased the survival associated with MRSA bacteraemia?
- What role, if any, does Keflex have in the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), particularly community-acquired MRSA?
