TIP OF THE WEEK

 

                                                                    November 9, 2007

Did you know...?        

 

Methicilllin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an infection that is resistant to many antibiotics.

MRSA infection is caused by staphylococcus aureus bacteria — often called "staph."  Decades ago, a strain of staph emerged in hospitals that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Dubbed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the first germs to outwit all but the most powerful drugs.

Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population.  If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects, however, they can pass the germ to others.

Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people.  But in older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems, ordinary staph infections can cause serious illness.

Staph infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep, painful 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.

MRSA infections occur most commonly among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities.  However, MRSA can cause illness in persons outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities as well.  Cases of MRSA infection in the community setting (e.g. day care centers, schools, places of employment, prisons) are called Community-Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or CA-MRSA) and have been associated with recent antibiotic use, sharing contaminated personal items, reoccurring skin infections, and living in crowded settings.  You can get MRSA by touching someone's infected skin, touching surfaces that have MRSA on them such as doorknobs, keyboards, light switches, phones, sports equipment, etc.

You can prevent the spread of MRSA or Staph to those you live with or others around you by following these steps:

  1. Keep infections, particularly those that continue to produce pus or to drain material, covered with clean, dry bandages.  Keep the infected area clean by washing with soap and water and then covered with a dry bandage. Talk to your health care provider about proper wound care for skin infections.  Pus from infected wounds can contain MRSA and spread the bacteria to other parts of the body and to other people.
  2. Advise your family and other close contacts to wash their hands frequently with soap and warm water, especially if they change your bandages or touch the infected wound or ANY potentially infectious materials.
  3. Avoid sharing personal items (e.g., towels, washcloths, razors, clothing, or uniforms) that may have had contact with the infected wound and potentially infectious material. Wash bed linens and clothes that come into contact with the infected wound with hot water and laundry detergent until the infection has cleared. Drying clothes in a hot dryer, rather than air-drying, also helps kill bacteria in clothes.
  4. Tell any available healthcare providers (e.g. primary care doctor or school nurse) if you suspect you may have Staph skin infection.
  5. Do not take antibiotics if you do not need them.  Follow the instructions carefully for any antibiotics you are prescribed.   Overusing antibiotics or not taking them correctly by stopping them or skipping doses actually increases your chance of contracting MRSA if you have been exposed.

 

For more information about MRSA please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at:  http://www.cdc.gov.

 

 

 

To learn more about services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team at (816) 559-6306 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com.  You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.

 

*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*

 

OHS-COMPCARE has eight (8) area clinical facilities:

Blue Springs Clinical Facility

Independence Clinical Facility

Johnson County Clinical Facility

St. Joseph Clinical Facility

801 NW St. Mary’s Drive

19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200

10415 Lackman Road

904 Edmond Street

Blue Springs, MO 64104

Independence, MO 64055

Lenexa, KS 66219

St. Joseph, MO 64501

816-224-9121

816-478-9299

913-495-9905

816-233-7702

 

After Hours Available

 

 

 

 

 

 

KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility

KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility

Wyandotte County Clinical Facility

Grandview Clinical Facility

1650 Broadway

6501 East Commerce, Suite 110

1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200

13830 S Us Highway 71

Kansas City, MO 64108

Kansas City, MO 64120

Kansas City, KS  66102

Grandview, MO 64030

816-842-2020

816-483-5550

913-596-2774

816-761-4664