What To Do If You Know Someone With MRSA
One thing about MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus carriers is that a person would not really know unless the disease carriers immediately announce it. This is not a disease that can make a person’s nose turn purple or make the eyes grow noticeably bleary and red. In fact, for many mild cases of MRSA, the carriers themselves do not know they have it. At most, MRSA carriers can exhibit some symptoms similar to the flu; but otherwise, all other visible signs are mostly absent. Pimples on the skin (or if a person declares he or she has a pimple inside the nasal cavity) are physical signs of Staphylococcus Aureus, but that does not necessarily mean that the person has MRSA.
Staphylococcus Aureus can be cured by antibiotics and responds well to other forms of treatments and remedies. On the other hand, MRSA is non-responsive to antibiotics of any kind, and extreme cases are almost untreatable. And yes, it is very contagious. The only way to know for sure if a person has this disease is through a medical diagnosis.
What do you do if you have an MRSA carrier living in your home?
If you do have a loved one with a confirmed case of MRSA, then you should know that this is a highly contagious disease, and can easily transfer from one person to another. Unlike influenza though, this disease is not airborne. Therefore, sharing breathing spaces with an MRSA patient is not a likely source of contamination. Physical contact and using the things of the person with MRSA are almost positive avenues for contamination, though.
So if you do have someone, or if you yourself are a carrier of the disease, the best thing to do is to confine the area of movement. You could devote an entire room or floor to the person, restricting other family member from moving within the same vicinity. This cuts down the risk of touching the same things that the carrier has touched. Plates and eating utensils should be separate, as with any other bath and grooming products like shaving kits, toothpastes and soaps.
If space limitation is not possible at all, it is quite important to use disinfecting products all the time, especially in bathrooms and in the kitchen. Make sure that everyone practices good hygiene everyday. Washing your hands may seem like an innocuous activity, but this is the best preventive measure possible.
Also, if you are the carrier of the disease, it would be best to dispose of your leftovers. Storing whatever you have eaten in the refrigerator will only increase the bacteria’s strength over time. Given just a few hours, the food may eventually make you more ill. Or, if a family member eats your leftovers, you could be very well passing off a more virulent form of MRSA bacteria. Don’t drink from the milk carton, or if you do, dispose of the carton as soon as you are through drinking.
People with weak immune systems like very young children, or very frail elderly family members should also avoid any form of contact with the MRSA carrier. People just recovering from any form of illness or physical malady also tend to have weakened immune systems so contact with the afflicted person should be kept at a minimum. If another family member has an open sore – no matter how small (like a freshly popped pimple) – physical contact should be avoided at all cost.
