Are you concerned about being in contact with it?

It's prevalent in hospitals, and I've treated many patients with it. With precautions, naturally.

Mom had a lengthy stay in the hospital and contacted it. All of her visitors had to gown up and wear gloves.. Anything brought into her room had to be disposed of or discarded. She was drinking Ensure protein drinks and if she didn't open them, they couldn't leave the room, to be used by anyone else. Even though they weren't even near her. They were on the window ledge.

She didn't have any open sores, so I have no idea how she contacted it; except that she was in CCU (Critical Care Unit) a few times (near-death), and was pretty weak.

I have to ask...why are you asking?

If you have it...you should be under the strict care of a physician...taking strong antibiotics and may need to be quarantined until such time as you're no longer contagious. Strains of MRSA can range in severity but all are highly infectious and left untreated...can wreak havoc with your system causing other serious problems, as well as death.

Why you're asking the question may glean more specific replies here...but the best advice is to seek a medicos professional's input.

My source of advice? It killed my husband whose system was already weakened by pancreatic cancer. And where did he contract it? In the hospital that was treating him for the cancer.

mimipadv - No, I'm not concerned about contacting anyone with MRSA and slept in the same room for a week with my daughter who has been hospitalized twice with this disease that she did not get while in the hospital. She never seems to get completely well from it, and her immune system is way down. She is on antibiotics for the rest of her life but has little energy and is still uncomfortable walking. My point is merely to hear about others who have also suffered in this manner and learn of their progress. Thank you for responding.

Jasdip - has your mother completely recovered now? Thanks for sharing.

Pink

I'm so sorry she's dealing with mrsa. All the best to her.

Hospitals can be the worst place for sick people! I'm sorry for your loss, anne.

anne-ct - Oh Anne, I am so sorry to hear about your husband (our posts apparently came on at the same time). What a sad story. MRSA is a hideous illness that has changed my daughter's life, and that's one reason I want to hear from others about their experience with it. Thank you for posting, Anne.

Thank you mimi. It's a terrible disease for the patient...but even worse, IMO, for the caregiver.

I've never thought to ask...but have heard it mentioned several times...that one can be a carrier but never become infected. Is that true? If so, it would explain why I never contracted it during the months that I cared for my husband. I wasn't the carrier in this case...but I was amazed that I never contracted it from him. I'm a controlled diabetic...i.e....non- medicating...but the fact remains that my immunity is challenged to a certain extent. The medicos tried everything with him...even transfusions...and although it would abate for a short while...it kept returning. It finally destroyed his liver and that was the last straw.

I agree about hospitals. After the experiences I've had in them...wild horses couldn't drag me to one unless I'm at death's door.

We did it again, Pink. :-) Thank you for your concern.

Do you as a caregiver of someone with mrsa get tested? I wonder if you have to be cautious of spreading it?

I don't know if your question is directed at me, mimi...but I was tested. I volunteered to be tested because I was in such close contact with him. He hated hospitals so whatever could be done at home...was done at home. I kept his port clean and disbursed his pain medication. I always wore surgical gloves to ensure his safety as well as mine.

Thanks anne. I was jus curious.

Pink, no Mom never came home from the hospital. :-(

My Mom has had to fight C-dif many times. It took almost a year to figure out what was wrong with her the first time. She just called me today (she is in assisted living after a hospital stay) and they say she has C-dif again!!!

They found (finally) after the first time that her body does not make antibodies! Supposed to make between 600 to 1,500, her count was 6! She goes every 4 weeks for an infusion of antibodies!

Hope your Mom gets well soon Pink.

Horrible disease for everyone involved patients and their families. I have been very concerned my current staph infection could veer to this. My doctor today assured me currently it is not mrsa. I pray for anyone affected by it.

Thanks to one and all for sharing and for offering any semblances of hope and encouragement. My daughter is 58 and has suffered for over two years with this ugly illness.

Jasdip - my heart goes out to you.

Pink

There are carriers who aren't in the hospital. Every time they are admitted to our hospital they're put in an isolation room to protect our other patients who have low immune systems. They aren't isolated when coming in for a doctor's appointment though, and they walk around with you in grocery stores, on the street, etc...Washing your hands is the best way to prevent infection or becoming a carrier yourself. Wash before you eat or touch your face, (rub your eyes or nose). There are other carriers of other antibiotic resistant infections also, not just MRSA. Wash your hands. I thought for sure I would have it just from being in contact with patients long before they were diagnosed, sometimes it took a day or two before the results showed up or sometimes they were missed. I was negative last time I was admitted to another hospital.

Kathsgrdn -There are so many obvious places for germs, I wash my hands many times each day - after reading a library book, after handling money, after using a cart at the market, after using the banister in a stairway, after shaking someone's hand, and so on and on. Let's hope people haven't forgotten this easy habit for health.

Haven't had it myself but a GF died from it several years ago. She was in and out of the hospital with it and finally succumbed to it after a couple months. MRSA stands for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, sometimes called a "superbug," because the infections it causes resist treatment with many antibiotics. US has one of the highest rates of MRSA, Norway has nearly obliterated it with credit being attributed to their (IMO) progressive attitude toward medicine (you don't go running to the doctor with the sniffles and don't go to a hospital unless you NEED to) and the avoidance of antibiotics. Here, antibiotics are passed out like candy on Halloween. It seems to be having an impact.