MRSA - leading cause for skin infections

MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a rare germ, that seldom affected people a decade back, is now the major cause for skin infections in most American cities.

Also known as the superbug, it is resistant to all standard antibiotics and is showing more immunity to newer drugs.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine was the first to demonstrate the extent to which Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus has spread throughout the United States.

Researchers said MRSA is the cause for more than 59% skin infections. Local prevalence ranged from 15 percent in New York to 74 percent in Kansas City. Drug-resistant staph accounted for 51 percent of skin infections in Los Angeles.

The lead generator of the study, Dr. Gregory J. Moran of Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, said that the doctors should take into consideration the prevalence of these infections.

MRSA is an uncommon bacterium, with only about one third people carrying it in their nose, skin and throat. Most of the times it is innocuous, but occasionally it may lead to fatal infections.

The infection, which can be caused even by a paper cut, can cause wounds which resemble infected spider bites. It can also cause a deadly lung disease known as necrotizing pneumonia, and toxic-shock syndrome, which is a type of blood poisoning that can be disastrous.

The early visible indication for the infection is a pimple or boils on the skin, which is reddish in colour, has a discharge and is painful.

The cause for the branching out of the bacteria is still alien. Some years ago, researchers started finding infections in jail inmates, sexually active gay men and professional athletes. It was last year that infections were reported among the general population in Atlanta, Baltimore and Minnesota.

In a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed all skin infections among adults who visited hospital emergency departments in 11 US cities in August 2004. It was found out that 59% of these patients had MRSA infection. However, infection rates varied among the cities.

The study provides evidence of the existing MRSA infections.

The study also revealed that healthy people will never get seriously ill from these bacteria. However, children, seniors and people with weakened immune systems, such as people with diabetes or HIV, can be affected.

It was also found out that such infections can be healed by surgically piercing and draining them. Dr. M. Lindsay Grayson, an infectious disease expert at the University of Melbourne in Australia supported this concept since potency of treatment by drugs varied.