General information about the existance of MRSA for the residents of Bakersfield, CA area, where there are a significant number of people with MRSA.
BAKERSFIELD — A week after an Oildale boy died from a staph infection, more attention is being focused on the infections that are becoming more common in Kern County and around the world.
Disease experts said many of the drugs doctors are familiar with using for Staph infections don’t work against an increasingly common strain, MRSA. The MRSA strain accounts for half of all staph infections and old drugs are becoming less effective because of the evolution of the infection.
“I had an IV and I think that’s how I got it,” said James Smith. “That’s when my armed turned black.”
Smith said he contracted an MRSA staph infection in February, and since then, he’s been in and out of hospitals trying to get it under control. He has sores all over his body from the infection.
“They [doctors] just keep trying to fix it and it keeps coming back,” said Smith. It keeps coming back because the staph infection Smith has is resistant to antibiotics.
Funny - at the end of this article, as with most general MRSA informational articles, is a statement that says basically this - to avoid MRSA, practice good hygiene. Then I run across this article this morning that says hygiene has nothing to do with it. Well, I, for one, am gonna keep washing my hands, and I highly recommend that you do as well!
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6 responses so far ↓
keith wilson // May 29, 2006 at 4:31 am
I would just like to know how if certain states have been known for such infections to be on t he rise, how come the public wasnt made aware of this new super bug thats now going ramped in local city’s throughout california?
How could such a disease be”under the radar” as far as public health is concerned?
Christina // May 29, 2006 at 7:14 am
That is a great question, Keith, and is one reason I started putting together information about MRSA. We were lucky where we live in Texas, we knew about MRSA before my husband had it, though our kids schools, where they had sent notes home about MRSA and the importance of hygiene. It had also been mentioned in our newspapers. Most of the people I talk to who have had MRSA haven’t been so lucky and when they were diagnosed with it was the first time they had heard of it.
keith wilson // Jun 4, 2006 at 4:56 pm
yeah I know all too well about being lucky, and first time diagnosis and never even having heard of it. And unfortuneatly my bout with the almighty M.R.S.A was lost.
Even tho im not sure who to blame for the loss of my 15 yr old son, the hospital, who unbeknow to them @ the time had my son on a ventilator that became unplugged for 45 min running in default mode, or the,3 hospital he was life flighted to (lucille packard childrens hospital) @ stanford who had him on a ecmo machine which required thinning of the blood,which deadly side affects are aneurysm’s.
Either way, it wont bring my son back, but the public must be made aware… hense my misson here..
thanks for your time
Cindi Murphy // Jun 6, 2006 at 12:15 pm
I have a question. One of my dearest friends has a son that was just diagnosed with MRSA yesterday and is only 3 months younger than mine. They are only 15 mos. and 18 mos. old. I am curious about how contagious this infection is and what I should look for. I have so many questions but feel uncomfortable asking her. In fact, with the new news I think she actually has a lot of questions as well. He is using the nasal spray now and they told her to bandage wounds ans cover with clothes. I am going to ask my pediatrician at his visit next week if we can test without any symptoms. Please give me any info you can on how this mey be spread between two toddlers.
Christina // Jun 6, 2006 at 1:09 pm
The infection is very contagious Cindi. I would like to think that good hygiene and keeping all wounds covered would do the trick, but in all honesty, I would keep my child away until all wounds are completely healed. Talk to your doctor about it. There is no point in testing with no symptoms. Many people are colonized, but there isn’t much that can/would be done about that.
keith wilson // Jun 6, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Cindy the first thing i would do is to loose the being scared to ask ?’s. The questions you ask may in fact save your childs life one of these days (or may not) if you dont ask. My second thing i would do would be to get an infectious desease doctor, and stay with that doctor there the best trained for these things. (not E R ) nor any other doctor for that matter.
To answer your question as to how serious this infection is… my 15 year old son who was perfectly healthy all his life caught this MRSA and from the day he showed signs of being ill with more then a common cold to the day he passed away was (21) days. 21 days to end a perfectly healthy teenaged boys life.. DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU ..
thanks keith
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