MRSA Notes

21 responses so far ↓

• Mary Catherine // May 20, 2006 at 12:31 pm

  Hi everyone…I just returned to work after being out for 3 weeks recovering from a staph infection in my hand. On Jan 20th, 2006 I had my nails done at a salon that I don’t normally go to. The lady cut me twice while doing my nails. About a week later, I started to have pain in my right index finger and by the next Friday, I was in emergency surgery having my hand and finger cut open. I was hospitalized for 4 days - waiting nervously to find out if it was MRSA - which I’m so lucky it isn’t - but it was STAPH. I’m still suffering from pain and stiffness in my hand and finger - going to therapy, etc. I called the salon to inform them and they guy was really rude to me…so now I’m consulting an attorney. But mostly I want to warn EVERYONE that his danger is so real and it can happen…it’s the last thing I ever thought about and now my life is changed forever because of it.

• Patricia M. // May 20, 2006 at 12:32 pm

  Mary-Catherine

  First I would like to say thank you to everyone for your kind words. I got national coverage by carefully selecting one of my local new reporters who is an investigative reporter. He had been doing pieces on the news about the M.R.S.A. infections being contracted a nail salons. I would recommend that you research your local stations to find a good investigative reporter perhaps one who has done a story on this very thing.
  You can also contact the reporter that I have used to see if he can recommend someone from one of his sister stations in your area. If you will go to www.wfaa.com and click on the link to contact them and then look for Brad Watson’s name. We had a lady here in our area that had to have two of her fingers amputated after getting cut at a nail salon. This has been a real eye opening experience. He was also contacted by a mother whom had seen his report. She told him her 20 year old daughter who is attending college at SMU has over 40 lesions on her leg from this MRSA after having a pedicure done at an upscale salon. She is now having to drop college and moved back home to California. The pain she has is diblitating. I will be checking back from time to time on here or is anyone wants to email me please do so at markandpatm@aol.com and in the subject line please put MRSA. I look forward to hearing the different stories as I have been asked to testify before the California lawmakers and I would love to take these stories with me to share along with Kim’s story.
  Keep up the good work and talk talk talk it is all about awareness. I am not telling people to quit getting pedicures and manicures I am asking them to be aware and ask questions. You would not go take a bath in your neighbors dirty bath water so don’t share dirty whirlpool water or implents used in manicures or pedicures. I am sure there are some people who would get in their neighbors dirty bath water LOL but I for one am not one.
  Patricia M.

• Patricia M. // May 20, 2006 at 12:32 pm

  IT IS ME AGAIN. I WOULD LOVE TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO IS SENDING ME YOUR STORIES. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING. IT FLAMES THE FIRES UNDER ME TO KEEP ME GOING WITH THIS CAUSE. I AM NOW TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE OPRAH SHOW. AND I HAVE ALSO BEEN TOLD THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ME COME TO CALIFORNIA TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE LAWMAKERS ON THE EMERGENCY REGULATIONS THAT LAWMAKER LELAND YEE IS TRYING TO GET PASSED IN THAT STATE IN ORDER TO TIGHTEN UP THE REIGNS ON THESE SALONS THAT DO NOT DO WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO DO.

  I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR I AM NOT TELLING ANYONE NOT TO HAVE A PEDICURE OR MANICURE WHAT I AM AFTER IS PUBLIC AWARENESS TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE STICKING YOUR BODY PART INTO. MAKE THEM PULL THE COVER OFF THE WHIRLPOOL SPA IF THEY WON’T THEN LEAVE. YOU WOULD BE VERY SHOCKED TO FIND HOW NASTY IT IS IN THERE. THESE SALONS DO NOT HAVE TO BE CHOP SHOP FLY BY NIGHT SALONS EVEN YOUR HIGH DOLLAR ONES ARE NOT CLEANING THE WAY THE SHOULD. WE HAVE A SALON IN DALLAS THAT NOW HAS OVER 20 WOMEN WHO HAVE THIS STAPH INFECTION AND IT WAS AN UPSCALE SALON IN AN UPSCALE PART OF DALLAS. ONE POOR 20 YEAR OLD YOUNG WOMAN IN COLLEGE AT SMU NOW HAS TO LEAVE TEXAS AND GO BACK HOME TO CALIFORNIA BECAUSE SHE HAD A PEDICURE AND NOW HAS OVER 40 PAINFUL LESIONS ON HER LEGS AND SHE CANNOT FUNCTION.

  I PLAN ON TAKING AS MANY STORIES WITH ME IN WRITING TO SHOW THESE LAWMAKERS AND ANYONE ON TV WHO WILL PUT ME ON AIR. AND I HOPE TO WALK IN WITH ARM LOADS OF BINDERS TO SHOW THESE LAWMAKERS AND REGULATORY BOARDS HOW SERIOUS AND DEADLY THIS HAS BECOME. ON AOL THIS WEEKEND THERE IS A STORY ABOUT A WOMAN WHO BUMPED HER THUMB ON A WHEELCHAIR IN A NURSING HOME AND SHE PICKED UP FLESH EATING STREP THAT KILLED HER IN 3 DAYS. HERE IS A LINK TO THIS SITE. http://kyw.com/health/health_story_069100659.html

  I WENT TO CHURCH WITH A MAN WHO ALSO PICKED UP FLESH EATING STREP AND STAPH AND HE HAD TO HAVE BOTH HIS LEGS AND ARMS AMPUTATED AND HE STILL DIED WITHIN A 3 WEEK PERIOD. WE NEED TO BE YELLING THIS FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOPS. PLEASE KEEP THE STORIES AND THOUGHTS COMING. EMAIL ME AT MARKANDPATM@AOL.COM AND PUT MRSA IN THE SUBJECT LINE. TO SHARE WITH ALL OF YOU IS HELPING ME HEAL BECAUSE I FEEL I AM NOT ALONE AND FOR THAT I THANK YOU ALL.
  PATRICIA MATHIS

• stockley // Jun 12, 2006 at 4:47 am

  I love this site. Good work…

• Patricia // Jun 15, 2006 at 3:27 am

  Hi I just wanted to update everyone. Today the formal state inspectors report will be made available to me. I will be doing another interview with my local news stations. Without going into a lot of detail because he could not yet ( report not due out until today and I talked with the investigator on Tuesday) he said that this nail salong had so many violations. And the strange thing was I had gone public and gone into this salon with the news reporter to confront the owner and he did nothing to clean it up before the inspections happened. HE FLAT DID NOT GIVE A DARN.

  So we will see where this goes from here. I will be speaking loud and clear and from here I will make as much noise as I have too.
  Keep in touch please.
  Trisha

• Christina // Jun 15, 2006 at 9:16 am

  Thanks for the update - I look forward to hearing what the report said. I cannot imagine NOT going through the biggest cleaning effort ever after someone acquired an illness from my place of business, I can’t imagine what he was thinking. This bothers me on SO many levels.

• Patricia Mathis // Sep 1, 2006 at 12:13 am

  Wow what a mind blowing past few months it has been since my friend Kimberly Jackson passed away from complications due to having a pedicure at a salon that was so very sub standard in following regulations set forth by the state of Texas.

  I am now working with Dr. Robert Spaulding please check out his website at www.justfortoenails.com

  He has a book due out this summer called
  “Death By Pedicure” he had named this book before he had even heard about Kim’s death. If you go to his website you will see that he has worked tirelessly over the past 8 years to get changes made in this industry.

  He has put together a survey website that is the first site of its type where the consumer, the physician, and nail techincians can all go to take seperate surveys regarding infections and changes needing to be made. Please go to
  http://nailsaloninfectionsurvey.com/ and check out the survey and if you have had problems or know someone who has gotten an infection please take this survey.

  The more information we can compile the more of a chance we have of getting regulations set in each state and necessary changes made so that hopefully nobody suffers the loss that I have. The life of my friend Kim was not worth the price of a pedicure at the hands of a shop owner who did not follow the guidelines.

  Thank You,
  Patricia Mathis

  P.s. Again please feel free to contact me at my email address markandpatm@aol.com if you have a story to share regarding an experience from a bad salon please contact me.

• Lisa Ann Bowles // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:48 pm

  First let me say,What a GREAT site !
  My name is Lisa Ann Bowles.
  I am the author of “Nail Care Nightmares; The Truth Behind The Beauty”
  It is so nice to see that there are many others who care about what is happening in the nail care industry.
  Patricia, I love your attitude.I too believe the public has the right to know the truth.

  Keep up the good fight!

  Best,

  Lisa Ann Bowles
  Author
  Nail Care Nightmares; The Truth Behind The Beauty

  http;//www.nailcareinfo.com

• Pam Davis // Mar 19, 2007 at 4:27 pm

  I am writing to you about this website. I am an investigative producer with the ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, NM. I am trying to track down anyone who’s received an infection, fungus or otherwise as a result of a pedicure at a salon.

  I can be reached at 505-884-6305 or pamdavis@hearst.com

  Thank You!

• Christi // Mar 19, 2007 at 7:56 pm

  Has anyone had any experience with MRSA in their mouth? My step dad had surgery to have his impacted wisdom teeth pulled and after the surgery he just stayed in pain all the time. The original surgeon blew him off and he finally saught a second opinion. They suspected Ostymitis and did a debridement to remove the infection. Now the Infectious Disease guys have come in and say it is MRSA. He has a pick line and will have to be on antibiotics for at least 6 weeks. His surgery was in January and he just got out of the hospital on March 16th. He was in intense pain and no one could do anything about it. After 8 weeks, and more than 15 visits with the orignial surgeon, a visit to his PCP, a visit to the ER, and 2 more visits with another family physician, he received a second opinion from a well respected oral surgeon and now we feel like we are making forward movements. Is this common? The original Oral Surgeon never even did an xray to see what was going on. Is this a normal level of care for a Doctor? I have so many questions and every Doctor we talk to has a different opinion. I thought perhaps I could find someone out there with a similiar story and a suggestion of where we go from here.

  Thanks!

• Tina H // Mar 20, 2007 at 1:05 pm

  I had a pedicure done and went into a local Patient First with what I thought was a toe infection. Without lancing it or taking tests, they gave me an antibiotic. While the antibiotic helped my toe, I began to get REALLY BIG lumps around my breasts and under my arms. It turns out I had/have MRSA. My question is, are you ever “clear” of it? It appears after rounds and rounds of antibiotics and 4 months of excrutiating pain I feel somewhat normal again… but I always wonder what came first, the toe infection or MRSA.

• MRSA Notes » Looking for Patients with Salon Associated Infections // Mar 21, 2007 at 9:04 am

  […] I just want to direct your attention to a comment left on one of my earlier posts about salon acquired infections: […]

• Christina // Mar 21, 2007 at 9:08 am

  Christi - infections in the mouth and gums are not uncommon, and are a seriously dangerous place to have an infection, since it is so near the brain. You did so good seeking a second opinion- unfortunately it is a common thing to have to do. I am glad you did it in time!

  Tina - You need to see a doctor who can answer your questions. Yes, you really should be able to get rid of it, but you have to find a doctor who will treat it aggressively and will work with you to get rid of it. Good luck to you!

• Patricia Mathis // Mar 22, 2007 at 4:09 am

  To Tina H - Unfortunelty no once you have contracted MRSA you carry it for the rest of your life. An acute attack of it can be brought on by stress, illness, high blood sugars. I carry it from a surgery for a breast reduction that I had 5 years ago and I have been in the hospital at least 15 times. I have been in ICU with slim chances of living to mild infection taken care of at home with oral antibotics.

  Please feel free to email me should you have any further questions or comments. My email address is listed below.
  Patricia Mathis
  markandpatm@aol.com

• DEBBIE // Oct 3, 2007 at 7:17 am

  I had MRSA last year. I had a sore and they found it in my nose. I believe I may have carried it for years and that my whole family has it. I now have a deep infection in my gums and multiple other medical problems and now I wonder if the MRSA has something to do with it.

  Where can I find someone to take me seriously and test me to see if this thing isn’t rampant in my body. So far I have found no one who knows a lot about it and everything on the net is so vague.

• claire // Oct 19, 2007 at 12:44 pm

  Hi,
  I’ve read a lot about MRSA and CAMRSA and all it says is to wash my hands to prevent me from contracting it. Yet, this seems like not enough information. I have a friend that lost two toes to MRSA. She first had it on the back of her shoulder, she thought it was a spider bite (as do most people with MRSA) and was treated with heavy antibiotics. She continued to get re-infected on different places on her body, finally she lost her toes. I have her over to my home a lot, as I don’t want to alienate her, but I must admit it does concern me. Now, I found out when my hairdresser was working on me, that she had a “funky infection” . Of course it was MRSA. Should I go to a different hairdresser?? Her wound was healed, but she said she was using ointment in her eyes and nose (it started on her chin). I like her, but I feel unsafe now.
  Any thoughts??

  Thanks

• Tina H // Oct 19, 2007 at 2:02 pm

  Not to put a scare into you, but I would definately take your own health to heart first. I have NOT been reinfected since my post. My doctor has taken a swab of my nose and it tested negative for MRSA and staph. areus. Let me share two things with you to do with what you may… first, a friend of mine was infected recently and we shared a lot of time together at a gathering (wedding) in Annapolis, MD, and I did not contract although we did hug and sit next to eachother for 5 hours for the wedding and reception. second, we found an anticeptic that we tested on an agar plate with MRSA (my strand) and it is affective at de-germing the surface it is called Dettol. They have a soap and when your friend comes over, I would wash your hands with it once she leaves. The dettol, which has phenol derivitaves, can be put in a pump action and spraye d on and wiped off surfaces (door knobs, etc.). It is a lot to do, but not for a friend that you may want to keep in your life. Since I have tested negative, my infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins said that the only way for me to get it again is to become infected again. I am at greater risk of infecting it again, so I take precautionary measures. You can only be infected by person to person contact with the wound or if the person touches their wound and then you touch a surface that they touched. As for your hairstylist, she should not even have a scab (healing MRSA) when working with the public or she could get in real trouble with OSHA and/or the CDC. I hope that I have helped. Dettol cannot be purchased everywhere, and we even use it in bed linens, laundry (especially undergarments), and before we found the soap, I put it in my body wash to degerm. We searched on-line and found it when we google-d it. Best of luck! -Tina

• Mike // Oct 19, 2007 at 2:11 pm

  There is some interesting information about MRSA at www.koskoff.com

• Great boys // Feb 1, 2008 at 8:11 am

  Yhanks youeabe29f69a92a314e4317b3879171406

• Patricia Mathis // Feb 1, 2008 at 9:52 am

  My infectious disease doctor said there are a few strains of MRSA floating around. This once was a hospital born disease but because of the popularity if nail salons it has been taken out of the hospital setting and is becoming more prevalant in other settings. I am not saying that nail salons are the only places to get it. You are right about the human contact as being one way to contract it. Yet keep in mind that being a hospital borne disease most often it is transmitted through instruments that are not cleaned throughly. Also my doctor said that some strains are airborne and thrive in the nasal area. She takes a precaution that may sound strange but in talking to other doctors I find she is not the only one. They keep a tube of triple antibotic in their coat pocket and before entering the hospital they put some of this up inside their nostrils as a precaution.

  This MRSA is a tricky mean disease and I think the research on it has really come out into the lime light with many deaths and illness’. As to date from my recollection we have had 7 deaths here in the DFW area. We even had a boy who played football contract it from the locker room so the whole school was shut down until a massive cleaning took place in the school.

  As a person who has contracted this and carries it as it lays dorment this is so scary. Attacks can be brought on by stress and not taking care of my body. I have started eating right and excercising with a weight loss of 115 pounds to help out. The doctors have told me that if I did not lose the weight and get my sugar levels under control I was at greater risk so I took their advice. Like I said earlier this is a very very tricky disease.

• Patricia Mathis // Feb 1, 2008 at 9:53 am

  My infectious disease doctor said there are a few strains of MRSA floating around. This once was a hospital born disease but because of the popularity of nail salons it has been taken out of the hospital setting and is becoming more prevalant in other settings. I am not saying that nail salons are the only places to get it. You are right about the human contact as being one way to contract it. Yet keep in mind that being a hospital borne disease most often it is transmitted through instruments that are not cleaned throughly. Also my doctor said that some strains are airborne and thrive in the nasal area. She takes a precaution that may sound strange but in talking to other doctors I find she is not the only one. They keep a tube of triple antibotic in their coat pocket and before entering the hospital they put some of this up inside their nostrils as a precaution.

  This MRSA is a tricky mean disease and I think the research on it has really come out into the lime light with many deaths and illness’. As to date from my recollection we have had 7 deaths here in the DFW area. We even had a boy who played football contract it from the locker room so the whole school was shut down until a massive cleaning took place in the school.

  As a person who has contracted this and carries it as it lays dorment this is so scary. Attacks can be brought on by stress and not taking care of my body. I have started eating right and excercising with a weight loss of 115 pounds to help out. The doctors have told me that if I did not lose the weight and get my sugar levels under control I was at greater risk so I took their advice. Like I said earlier this is a very very tricky disease.

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