Your Health: Super Staph

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It's Superbug. But MRSA won't save the day.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is dubbed a "superbug" because of its tenacity against treatment. Once confined mainly to hospitals, MRSA is now spreading through the general population. Highly communicable, it can cause skin, surgical and catheter site infections, blood poisoning, pneumonia and death.

"I happened to have the worst strain possible," says Linda Ramsdill of Saratoga. "They wanted to cut my leg off and I wouldn't let them."

Ramsdill was in the hospital for a knee replacement in 2003 when MRSA attacked her kneecap. The wound was 8 inches long, 4 inches wide and deep enough to see the bone.

"They kept doing at least five kinds of surgeries," Ramsdill says. "I was allergic to the antibiotics they put me on. I went into renal failure. I was out of it for a very long time. I was on so many drugs, I thought there was a monkey in my room."

At one point, her temperature was 105. What remained of her infected patella and tendon were removed. She needed multiple surgeries to grow new bone.

"When he finally took the cast off, and said, 'OK. Go walk,' I burst into tears," Ramsdill says. "I hadn't had any weight on my leg for 3-1/2 years. One leg is straight -- ugly and straight. I have a limp, but all I keep saying is I have my leg."

Today, the former wallpaper hanger is on disability, but she never sued. "'Nowadays there's so much infection in the hospital, that's the chance you take.' That's what the lawyers said to me. Malpractice is very hard to prove," she says.

Around since the dawn of humanity, staph bacteria are constantly morphing. "Staph is a very common, ubiquitous organism," says Megan Helmecke, infection preventionist at Albany Medical Center. "You're going to find it on people, countertops -- all over the place. When you use antibiotics, you're wiping out the susceptible bacteria. The strong, resistant ones survive. That's why we emphasize only treating with antibiotics when there's actually a bacterial infection there. People taking antibiotics inappropriately have a lot to do with it."

Most staph strains are drug-resistant, says Nicole Coffin, spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Nationwide, MRSA killed nearly 19,000 people and infected about 95,000 in 2007, according to the latest CDC statistics.

The vast majority of MRSA cases are reported in healthcare settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers. However, community-associated MRSA infections "have increased rapidly" over the past decade, especially among groups such as teams, inmates and military personnel, according to the CDC.

Mohonasen High School athlete Kyle Gagnon died in 2009 from MRSA pneumonia. In 2011, three Shenendehowa students contracted MRSA. In 2006, Schenectady County Jail reportedly suffered several outbreaks.

"Since the late 1990s, it's pushed into the community," Helmecke says. "There are multiple strains. In the hospitals, the strains typically cause more invasive diseases like pneumonia. The one most common in the community affects skin and soft tissue. It's hard to say on the community side what's going on, because there aren't real statistics for community level data."

New York does not require reporting of MRSA, although legislation is pending to do so. In a Monroe County surveillance program, 1,277 cases of invasive MRSA occurred between April 2004 and July 2007. One in 20 were community associated. Between 2005 and 2006, community MRSA rates rose from 1.5 to 4.6 cases per 100,000 and healthcare MRSA rates rose from 40 to 55 cases per 100,000 in Monroe County.

The Quick Download on MRSA

Nowadays, when everything from soap to livestock feed contains antibiotics, about one in three people carry MRSA in their noses. Roughly a third of them develop symptoms.

-- MRSA can enter the system through open wounds. We can contract it by touching a person or object carrying the bacteria and then touching our noses, eyes or a sore.

-- If you believe your infection may be MRSA, cover it, wash your hands, don't drain any fluid and call the doctor.

-- If you're diagnosed with MRSA and you've been crowded with others, let them know. They may have it, too.

-- MRSA infections are resistant to some antibiotics and treatable with others. Never share or save antibiotics or stop taking them mid-course. If you're on antibiotics and the infection persists after a few days, call the doctor.

-- MRSA can relapse. Having it won't afford immunity against future infections.

Identifying MRSA

Not sure if you have MRSA? Here are some symptoms to watch for:

-- You have a red, swollen, warm, tender or painful, infection, abscess, pustule or boil.

-- It resembles a spider bite.

-- Pus or fluid oozes from it.

-- It spreads rapidly.

-- It's in a spot where skin was already broken.

-- It's in a hairy place, such as the back of the neck, armpits, groin, buttocks or beard area.

-- You've been in a healthcare setting.

-- You've been in close contact with a group.

-- You've had skin-to-skin contact with others or shared personal items.

-- Your doctor diagnoses a staph infection but after a few days of antibiotics, it isn't healing.

Staving Off Staph:

You could catch it from a sauna or a shopping cart. How can you stay MRSA-free? Hygiene is the best defense:

-- After using the bathroom and before preparing food, rub your hands together for 20 seconds minimum using antibacterial soap and water. Can't get to a sink? Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

-- Clean cuts and scrapes. Bandage them until they're better.

-- Never touch someone's wound or bandage without gloves.

-- Don't share towels, razors, athletic equipment, clothing, bedding or personal items.

-- If possible, avoid bare skin during sports and gym workouts.

-- Shower thoroughly after athletics.

-- If someone in the household is wounded, launder everything with hot soapy water. Use bleach when possible and a hot dryer.

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