Hi everyone. I haven't posted in ages, but browse the posts here and there. Now I have something to share.
My poor 3 year old daughter has been diagnosed with community MRSA - she had multiple abscesses on the skin, treated with wrong drugs, until they finally surgically drained one and cultured it.
I never throught this would happen to either of my kids. Myself - maybe - constant contact with med-surg patients in the hospital setting, but my 3 year old.. it is just devastating. I know she will be ok, (hopefully she will not be psychotic or have kidney problems from Bactrim) but I only now fully understand what we are facing as a nation regarding MRSA.
I know the bird flu is a hot topic, but I almost feel like we are heading into an epidemic of MRSA if chldren and college kids are now getting it.
I personally do not know anyone outside of hospital who has/had this type of skin MRSA.
What is your experience in the community? Friends? Relatives?
Do you know of any new ways of approaching the problem besides using Linezolid and how are your employers reacting to this issue?
Anagray, sorry about your dd. I have posted here recently about my dd. She is living on a marine base in CA. She came home last christmas with her husband and daughter and they stayed with his mother. His brother who is 16 came down with a terrible lung infection. He was hospitalized and treated for MRSA pneumonia. About 2 months later after she went home my dd came down with folliculitis on both legs. They were cultured and she was given a cream. The infection spread into her thighs and became multiple abscesses. When she called her PCP they told her that the culture from the folliculitis was + for MRSA. She was placed on an oral, don't know which one. Last month she called and said she had 2 new abscesses on her back. The PCP cultured these but they did not grow MRSA.
did she try the Mupirocin ointment? effective against over 99% of Staph Aureus, works wonders!!!!!!!!! pretty expensive, but worth it!!!1:balloons:
I work in an ED and we have alot of MRSA in the regular population. 1 years-80 year healthy otherwise. We now have a MRSA decolonization protocal pt get's cultured, given 3 rx's one goes in the nares, ones a body wash , and the third is oral/po...I forget the names right now, but after treatment they are to get retested.
This past year I worked both as a school and a jail nurse. At the jail, treated many, many MRSA abscesses. Then one morning a 7-year-old walked in complaining of a "sore" on his back. Pulled up his shirt- gigantic MRSA abscess, leaking all over the place. Poor kiddo. I knew his family, and they were certainly loving, caring parents... just perhaps not up on the signs and symptoms of abscesses.
It's everywhere. Just everywhere. Babies are getting it. There's no way to prevent it except to eat well, sleep, exercise, and make sure your kids try to stay healthy too. But it's not just for jails anymore! (sigh)
Sorry to hear that your 3 year old has MRSA. Hope it goes away soon. I have spent the last 5 months thinking I had a severe case of athletes foot. I took anti-fungal pills, ointments, garlic pills etc. I did everything I was told and it didn't go away and the itching was so bad. I quit going to my local clinic since I didn't get any relief. I finally went to the urgent care and they gave me a steroid shot and steroid cream for my feet. They also did a foot culture. It was discovered I had "MRSA" on my feet. I am now on bactrim and I am so grateful to finally get relief.
We have had a problem with it in my community for the past few years (rural northeast GA), and as a school nurse I've seen PLENTY of it. My son caught it last year...I assumed I carried it home to him some how His Dr said he had impetigo, but when he went to the dermatologist w/me a week after his Dx (and no improvment), she swabbed my nose and cultured one of his sores...he was positive for MRSA and it was making a happy home in my nose.
Considering Bacitracin is OTC probably not. More likely its Bactroban with is a brand of mupirocin as other posters have mentioned. We are seeing a lot of "spider bites", of which most of them are most likely MRSA and treating them with Bactrim most the time. That is if the doc even gives an antibiotic. We are seeing just as much clear up of the wounds with plain old I&D vs I&D and an antibiotic.
Looks like people need to pick their nose less and wash their hands more.
Rj
We are averaging 5 to 10 I&D of abscesses a day in our ER. Most of those are culturing out MRSA. They almost always are mistaken for a "spider bite" and start off pretty small and benign then are described as growing large and painful within a matter of hours.
There is a doc that is rx'ing bacitracin (?).....applied to nares w/ q-tip daily to help prevent re-occurrance. Someone please correct me if I have my abx ointment wrong.
We are seeing all walks of life with this. Unfortunately, that includes a great number of children.
Good luck and I hope your little girl feels better!
Why the nares? Are you telling me that if you come in contact with MRSA it can be inhaled through the nares and make a home there? Or is it from coming in contact with MRSA on your hands and then touching your nose? I've had a few pts with MRSA in the hospital and they were in for long term abx tx, usually IV vanco for 6+ wks.
To the OP, I'm so sorry your daughter contracted MRSA. I'm going to warn my kids to be extra careful now. Blech!
I work at a small community hospital and have seen quite a few pt with MRSA, the spider bite variety, especially, or they come in with cellulitis which almost always ends up being MRSA. Usually 30-something healthy men, one was a young woman with 2-week old breast implants swimming in MRSA, ugh!
His Dr said he had impetigo, but when he went to the dermatologist w/me a week after his Dx (and no improvment), she swabbed my nose and cultured one of his sores...he was positive for MRSA and it was making a happy home in my nose.
chelli73
238 Posts
did she try the Mupirocin ointment? effective against over 99% of Staph Aureus, works wonders!!!!!!!!! pretty expensive, but worth it!!!1:balloons: