Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA infection is caused by a type of staph bacteria that's become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections. Most methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA infections occur in people who've been in hospitals or other health care settings, such as nursing homes and dialysis centers.
HA-MRSA can spread by health care workers touching people with unclean hands or people touching unclean surfaces. Another type of MRSA infection has occurred in the wider community β among healthy people. It's usually spread by skin-to-skin contact. At-risk populations include groups such as high school wrestlers, child care workers and people who live in crowded conditions.
Staph skin infections, including MRSA , generally start as swollen, painful red bumps that might look like pimples or spider bites.
The affected area might be:. These red bumps can quickly turn into deep, painful boils abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs. Keep an eye on minor skin problems β pimples, insect bites, cuts and scrapes β especially in children.
If wounds appear infected or are accompanied by a fever, see your doctor. Different varieties of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly called "staph," exist. Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. The bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they usually cause only minor skin problems in healthy people.
