The Dirty Truth About MRSA скачать в хорошем качестве

The Dirty Truth About MRSA

When MRSA comes up in conversation, it doesn’t get a positive reception. The ultimate yuck factor - the mere mention of it makes our skin crawl. “Well contamination, infection, something gross,” says Evan Derby. Evan Derby spends much of his day at a computer keyboard. The dirty truth is MRSA may be there, too, frequently found on frequently touched surfaces. In fact 40% of us have the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on us right now. MRSA is an antibiotic resistant strain of this bacteria; it can live undetected on our skin for a long time. “Probably I’m colonized with MRSA because I see so many patients. A lot of people are colonized with MRSA. We are colonized and nothing happens. So you could be carrier of MRSA and have, live a normal life,” says Dr. Pranav Shah, who is an infectious disease specialist with Lee Memorial Health System. MRSA likes things warm and fuzzy. “MRSA usually stays in moist, hairy places: nose, axillary, groin region,” says Dr. Shah. Just because it’s all around us doesn’t mean MRSA is harmless. It can lead to severe antibiotic resistant infections. Spread through contact, you can pick it up from touching a compromised person or object like a computer, door knob or gym equipment. To get a reaction the bug has to have an entry point into your body. “If there is a skin breakdown and it has a portal of entry then it gives you an infection,” says Dr. Shah. Cleaning and covering cuts may prevent infections, which can range from a boil or abscess to severe, even life-threatening sickness. The best defense is hand-to-hand combat. “The best thing you can do is hand washing. Hand washing, hand washing, hand washing,” says Dr. Shah. Armed with this knowledge, Evan is soaping up and trying to stay hands-off. “I’d touch things a whole lot less, that’s for sure,” says Derby. View More Health Matters video segments at leememorial.org/healthmatters/ Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Visit leememorial.org