Topic : 04/01 The Superbug

My son had MRSA at the age of 14 (he is 18 now)  We dont know where he contracted it at or from my heart goes out to the lady Melissa I dont know why after two surgeries and months of home iv sessions that my son survived and hers did not perhaps to let others know how very serious this thing is. 

I know I never want to go through that again ever My son got out of the hospital on Thanksgiving Day and it was the best Thanksgiving Day I have ever had.  I tell all my friends like when one of my friends on Yahoo chat said her daughter had an infection and it just wont go away I told her to not walk but run to the ER and tell them to test her for MRSA and sure enough that is what she had. 

Thankyou Dr Phil for putting this on your show this is a very dangerous Bacteria My Doc said that if we had waited one more day I would have found my son dead in his bed.   

We cleaned this whole house and we are constantly alert to this fact now my son is 18 and his wife is two monthes pregnant and I thank God everyday that he spared my son. 

That girl that was on the show she needs to demand someone look at her now pronto and yes we DO need to panic its a matter of life or death here.         

I had a bout of MRSA that lasted several months just over a year ago. It resulted in 2 hospitalizations totally 14 days in all. I had 4"lesions" or "cysts" as the Dr's  referred to them over a time period of a few months.. When I had the first one drained my husband & I both asked the Dr who performed the procedure to take a swab to determine what it was but we were told they did not swab these types of things! When .I had the next 2 drained it was the same story still they refused to swab.

By the 3rd I was like the young lady on your show I was basically afraid to go to the hospital it was so very painful and seemingly no one was willing to even try and determine what was causing these or what it in fact was. It became so severe that I had no alternative but to return to the hospital where yet another drainage procedure was performed and I was hospitalized with severe infection and placed on IV antibiotics. Still I was refused a swab! I was telling my story to my nurse and how they would never do a swab finally some action...this nurse offered to take a swab and have it sent to lab she was able to convince a Dr to authorize the taking of the swab and about 2 days later I was told I had MRSA and was whisked off to Isolation! This last wound was very large and disgusting looking, it basically appeared to be eating away at my flesh rather than improving. Different types of IV antibiotics were given as well as newer types of dressings used. These dressing changes wer very painful. When I was finally discharged I was under the care of Extra Mural hospital for months where nurses visited on a regular basis for dressing changes and later the taking of swabs from various body areas over a 3 week period after the wound healed. This was necessary supposedly to ensure I was now clear of MRSA. In our province in Canada no records are kept of incidents of MRSA so it is basically impossible to say how many cases there are at any given hospital. I still can't believe that we had to beg to have a swab taken as if we were asking for something totally outrageous! I will say that both my husband and myself are very worried about hospital admissions and just pray we never have to go through anything like this again. Thank God it was finally diagnosed and the appropriate treatment given or my story might have been very different!

My heart goes out to the lady whose young son succumbed to this so called super bug..

I have had MRSA 4 times.  Luckily I have not had an outbreak in 1-2 years but my first was 4 years ago, a time when no one (except in the United Kingdom), really knew about it.

1 - Spider bites, pimples, boils, and lumps like them that get warm or feverish to the touch and seem to get worse (and larger) instead of better need a doctor's attention sooner rather than later.

2 - As briefly mentioned on the show, the nasal passage is where the MRSA seems to cultivate and/or live.  It is important to ask your doctor about an antibacterial ointment for the nasal passages and if this is something you should be using in addition to the super strength antibiotics you will most likely be prescribed.

3 - Insist on a culture. The lab can run a culture and find out exactly what the infection is and what antibiotics will work.

The first time I had MRSA was 4-5 years ago and after being hospitalized and put on an antibiotic regimen, a week later the doctor called me with the results of the cultures and completely changed the regimen that I was on.  While each person is different, I was prescribed an antibiotic called Rifampin and a nasal ointment called Bactroban or Mupirocin that I was told to put in my nasal passages twice a day.  The Rifampin turns your feces and urine reddish orange and you must finish all of the antibiotics that your doctor prescribes.

Finally, when I researched the MRSA online, I was amazed to see and read all about the Super Bug on the BBC news in the UK.  Four to five years ago this was a huge problem in the hospitals over in Europe and I am shocked that in the US, we could not have prevented this from happening here. Perhaps it was only a matter of time.

I have had marsa in my home at least 6 times maybe more in the past year starting with my grandson who was about 15 mos at the time, he was hopitalized for about a week, it was in his big toe, and leg. Then he contracted it again abot 6mos later in his ear and again was hospitalized. my oldest grandaughter also got marsa in her nose, then my son who is 11 also got it in his nose and was hopitalized. My youngest grandauhter who is now 15 mos has had it in her buttock area in the last month and my daughter the mother of all three has it in her finger, and it seems not to be healing or draining as it did with the children.

This stuff has me scared especialy after watching todays show... The hosipatls here just seem so relaxed about it and say oh as long as it drains it will be okay, also the fact that when my 11 yr old son was hospitalized with it I called the school to let them know and they ( being the school nurse) had never even heard of it. I just wonder what I can do to help get this message out..

I don't think the Tampa area is aware of just how serious this really is... I had heard on the news a couple of weeks ago of a girl dying in the jail here of marsa... any comments or sugestions are very welcome... Thanks Kim in Tampa

In summer 2007 I had a small bump on my arm that I thought was a spider bite.  It was not bad enough for me to see my doctor and healed within a week.  Later that month I had a bump on stomach and in my armpit.  I was very busy and waited to see if what I thought was a boil or cyst  would heal on its own. Not to long after I ended up in the ER with a very high fever and softball size mass in my armpit.  That night I had surgery to drain and pack the wound.  The lab results showed the infection was MRSA.  I was hospitalized for 4 days and underwent terrible treatment for the large open wound in my armpit.  IV Antibiotics and creams were prescribed as treatment.  The wound took a long time to heal.  I have not had a recurrence for over a year, but I keep a close eye on any skin problems that I may have.