Topic : 04/01 The Superbug

My adult daughter got MRSA.  The doctors treated the outbreaks with the attitude of "No Biggie" She kept insisting that they do a culture, and much like Stephanie she was put off.  She never gave up. Finally she found a doctor who was astounded the other doctors had not even done a culture.  She was put on antibiotics and was given strict instructions on hand washing and the normal precautions including the Antibiotic ointment in the nose 2 to 3 times a day.  MRSA will manifest in the nose then spread.  Over time she would have break outs of the MRSA bumps especially under her arms along the bra line.  Her doctor asked her if she was wearing her clothes more than one day at a time and her original answer was no, she changes every day. The Doctor told her to change her bedding daily and night clothes as well.

The thing my daughter had not thought about was changing her BRA  every day.  She didn't have enough bras for a daily change so what she would do is to take her bra every night and wash it with antibacterial hand washing soap as there was no antibacterial wash soap then would let it dry. Also new sheets every night and new bed clothes every night.  This worked. She has been outbreak free now for about 5 months.

 

I hope Stephanie sees this as her bumps are under her arm as well, Remember to change the bras daily.

Best of luck to all who have been affected by this super-bug. 

Please help me try to understand something.

Once you have an infection with MRSA, do you ALWAYS have it?  Does it remain in your system in some way? Does it 'lurk' waiting for a chance to come out again?

I had an infection on my inner thigh that turned out to be MRSA in July 2005. It developed & progressed very quickly. I went to urgent care, the doctor said it was an "infected spider bite" but thank goodness he had the insight to get a culture right away. It was a long process, the wound site had to be drained, but I did recover. I was off work for weeks, and on antibiotics (can't remeber which ones). I always thought it really was a spider bite, but since have heard that MRSA often starts out like this, but is not actually a spider bite.

I was not given any real info about the danger of it spreading to others and such. I took precautions just out of basic common sense. No one said I would have any type of predisposition to getting another MRSA infection. BUT..I am having SURGERY next month, and after watching this show, it makes me wonder if I am at an increasd risk. Do I need to tell the docs about the MRSA infection from 2.5 years ago?  My primary care doc knows, but has never ever mentioned it since the infection cleared. I have never had any follow up to it, or had any kind of swab done etc. Should I?

I appreciated the show, but feel it left many questions unanswered. I can't even find an answer to this question on the internet. Just keep getting teh same info over & over. Does that mean there is no increased risk?

Thanks for any help you can give!!!!

To the mom's whose daughter has mrsa around the bra area......I am almost certain now this is what I am dealing with.  Three years ago I had a spot on my left breast biopsied.  They were completely puzzled by it.  After being poked and prodded by 2 or 3 more doctors a diagnosis still was not established.    Shortly thereafter I had a breast reduction and the spot was removed and I thought it was gone.  Now 2 years later it has returned under my right breast.  I am wondering what type of cleansing products you have found effective for washing the contaminated clothing?

I live in a 1 bedroom house. Last summer I had to 17 and 18 year old kids living with me and my fiance. They had to sleep in the living room. They both ended up with sores that they called spider bites. Shortly after, they moved out. 6 Months later, I was told that they had MRSA. At the same time they moved out, my niece moved in.. After 6 months, she started getting a sore on her arm. SHe says it is a spider bite.. a week or two had past and we watch the Dr. Phil show. They explain what the "Superbug" actually is. I tell my niece that the sore MAY ACTUALLY be MRSA. She previously went to the doctor and did a culture on it. The day after the Dr. Phil Show, she goes back to the doctor and finds out that she indeed has MRSA.

 

I remember one quote from the DR. Phil show, he says something like this,"So, we are going to be getting every OCD people out there going crazy".

 

Well DR.PHIL, you are absolutely correct! I suffer mild OCD but sever Hypochondria. I have a Arthritis disease and I am currently taking HUMIRA for the RA and it weakens immune Systems. So, I PLAN TO FIGHT THE INFECTIOUS BACTERIA! I have a 4 room house, and I am getting rid of ABOUT EVERYTHING!

 

STARTING WITH MY FURNITURE! I am throwing out my couch, chair in my living room and my bed. I am also replacing the flooring in the bathroom, shower&bathtub, toilet, sink, and painting the bathroom.

 

I am replacing the floor in my living room and also in my bedroom and PAINTING the walls as well. I NOW own a few boxes of LATEX gloves, mutliple cans of OUST disinfectant spray, hand sanitizers, new trash cans, new door handles and I am also due for a new furnace this year, so I will be replacing my furnace with an updraft furnace and I am adding a air filtration system.... I have a few pets in the house, and I really considering getting rid of them, but my heart is telling me NOWAY! I can't live without my pets.. I AM THANKFUL OF YOUR SHOW! IT HAS PUSHED ME TO LIVE THE CLEANEST I CAN GET! 3 people and 3 dogs in a 4 room house can get kind of dirty at times... NOT ANYMORE!

 

You are definately right about the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! People are probably going frantic like me!

 

Its funny how one Dr.PHIL show can change a persons life forever! My mother had just died from an infection and we think it MRSA. She had her leg amputated and went into septic shock from a 4 month hole in her leg prior to amputation. She had an instant heart attack after surgery because her blood pressure dropped so quick... They gave her the new medication for septic shock and it worked on her, but she was brain dead and her kidneys had failed so we had to make a decision. She was in the ICU after her heart attack for about 14 days. It was very hard to make the decision, but we knew that GOD would take care of her.

 

What else could I do to my house to get rid of Bacteria?

 

Anybody with suggestions? I know to wash hand frequently,, but can it get into your washer or what about my niece using the same towels and then washing them? After wash, will the germ still be there? Maybe bleach? ALso Bleach on the floors?

 

My oh MY! What to do! 

I cannot believe that girl's doctor is giving her pills instead of intravenous antibiotics, or waiting to send her to an ID doctor. I had a whole staff of them in Florida and I still go see mine here in Virginia every few months. That doctor must be a bigger quack as the doctor I first went to in Florida... a referral from my health insurance. If I had listened to him, I would have died. After getting home from an appointment, I called him frightened because my lower legs were swollen an covered with watery blisters. He told me to eat less salt and come see him Monday. I went to the emergency room Sunday Morning, they took some tests, sent to a hospital room a few hours later; the last thing I remembered. I 'woke up' in ICU severals days later with my sister crying in my ear by phone.

 

In 2003, I decided to spend the winter with my brother in Florida. Feb. 2004, I contracted MRSA staph disease. Never heard of it before or don't know where or how I got it. I spent 2 and a half months in the hospital there; had to take a med-flight back to my home, where I spent the rest of the year and all of 2005 in and out of hospitals, not expected to live, many times... several MRSA flare-ups with oozing sores on my back and butt. Once I was so swollen I looked like I was 8 months pregnant which was an abscess that ruptured; I won't go into the gory details. Several times I was in conflict with my health insurance because they didn't feel I was sick enough to go back into the hospital. I had at least 4 series of Vancomycin through PIC lines, and 8 - 10 blood transfusions because my body nearly stopped reproducing red blood cells. It left me with a severed spine, L2 and L3 deteriorated, surgery was life-threatening and wouldn't reverse the paralysis. Also, had chronic bone infection, 3rd stage kidney disease, skin problems, continued imbalanced blood issues, etc., and it left me incontinent, the most humbling experience. I lost my home since I could no longer live alone and was unable to keep it financially. My Dad build that home for me when he was in his mid-seventies, that made it harder than ever to have to give it up. 

 

My life has completely changed, spend 90% in bed, living with my son and his family, which has had its ups and downs. It takes a lot of prayer, patience and understanding on all our behaves. No fancy equipment or handicapped aids for me... I don't have the money and health insurance won't cover them, so to mobilize me at all it takes the help of my 2 grandsons and/or my son to tug and pull to get me from bed to my wheelchair or into a car. It's so difficult, I rather stay in bed must of the time. My laptop and TV is most of my world now.

Most people don't realize the difference between viruses and bacteria. Even Dr. Phil called MRSA a virus more than once. A couple of generations of Americans have grown up with the belief that antibiotics are the cure for everything.

 

I heard that Dr. Phil call Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) "Biohazard suits" which isn't right.  If you have a pt that has MRSA in a wound, you wear a disposable gown and gloves along with using a disposable stethoscope and blood pressure cuff.  If MRSA is found in the respiratory tract,you wear a mask as well. 

 

If youre in the community, use common sense.  Cover your wounds and don't pick at them.  Don't share towels and razors.  If you work at a hospital, keep your nails cut short, as nails harbor microorganisms.  If you have a bump or boil that doesn't go away, don't panic, but see the doctor, it could be anything from MRSA to a tumor.  Blah, blah, blah, use common sense (or maybe it's not that common anymore).  Don't you just love those panicky idiots who thrive on the drama?  Ugh!

 For those who would like a little more info on MRSA, check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM-rrHvirDE


Also here is a Microbiology company that is helping Schools, Athletic venues and Hospitals battle the bug.

http://www.estechlab.com

I am so sick of everybody going crazy like it's something new! It's been around people and it's not the only thing that is becoming resistant in this psycho antibiotic crazed world of ours.

 

First, let me just say, shame on YOU Dr. Phil for calling it a VIRUS! Holy crap are you wrong! It is a bacterial infection. NOT a virus. And it's no suprise that this bacteria, like soooo many others, has become resistant. I work in the microbiology department of a hospital lab and, although we are told to report MRSA, we also note so many other strains of "bugs" that are becoming resistant to our "first line" antibiotics.

 

Staphyloccocus aureus is a VERY common bacteria. When the doctor told the audience "1:3 of you have Staph. aureus on your right now" you saw them all freak out! The thing is, staph. aureus is EVERYWHERE! Secondly, while staph. aureus is NOT part of the human body's "normal flora" (bacteria that are always found on or in the human body), it can be cultured from pretty much everything.

When you get an infection in a wound, the normal bacteria that are present on your body can become opportunistic. Meaning that, while they are on the outside and do no harm, on the inside they can. Neosporin tends to take care of these ;-)

 

Here is the only way we are going to NOT have antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains....

 

Notice how they IS no way?! We take antibiotics for EVERYTHING....even viruses! Hello!? Antibiotics do NOT do ANYTHING to viruses. The only way to get "over" a virus is to let your body do it's thing. If you can handle it, deal with that fever....that fever is what's trying to kill off that virus.

 

Lastly, let me leave you with another fun tidbit:

Tuberculosis (a bacteria)

Gonorhea (a bacteria)

Most staph. infections (bacteria)

and soooo many others.....ALSO have resistant strains.

 

It's called evolution.....natural selection......"survival of the fittest".........."those best adapted survive"

 

there is no cure.....

Thank you for airing the show on MRSA now maybe people will understand a little bit of what my son has been going through because in this small town that we live in the gosip is unreal. I guess it is because people don't understand what MRSA is but maybe now I hope the gosip will stop.My main concern is my 17 year old son that has been fighting this sence Oct.1,2007 and just got out of the Hospital again on

3/28/08 .  My son is going  through enough he doesn't need all this gosip about him.  Again THANK YOU

                                                                                 Lori