The story of my son's encounter with MRSA...
It all started one day when my son was complaining about a bump on his chin. He said that the bump hurt him but since he is twelve going on thirteen I thought it was just one of those painful pimples adolescents get from time to time. So we treated it like a pimple but it wouldn't go away. He picked at the bump which made it worse and day by day it got larger, red and puss filled to the point where he could feel it inside of his mouth and it hurt him to eat.
After he kept complaining about it for about a week I came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't just a pimple but I still didn't know what it was and thought it might be an insect or spider bite of some kind. Since some spider bites can be dangerous I decided to take him to the doctor to have it looked at and boy am I glad that I did.
I never really heard of MRSA, nor did I know how serious it was. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a bacterial infection which is a living organism that can commonly cause skin and other types of infections. Some of the signs and symptoms of the disease include: cellulitis, bumps on the skin, boils, abscesses, a sty, carbuncles, impetigo or other collections of puss in and under the skin. I found out that MRSA can be fatal in very serious cases. According to statistics from the Kaiser foundation in 2007 the mortality rate among hospitalized MRSA patients is estimated to be between 4% - 10%. In my research I also found out that more people die from MRSA in the United States every year than from AIDS. It became evident that we were dealing with a possible life threatening disease that we thought was just a pimple or bug bite.
The first clinic we got to was closing but the nurse practitioner took one glance at my son and said that it could be MRSA and that I needed to clean and cover the soar and get him to a doctor right away. No clinics were open so I purchased an over the counter aseptic and some bandages to get us through the night.
That night, when we applied the aseptic my son was in serious pain and the soar ruptured in his sleep due to the aseptic working on the infection. When the bump burst it even bled through the bandages. First thing in the morning I took him to urgent care and the doctor knew what it was immediately. She squeezed and squeezed the bump pushing puss out of it and took a culture to send to the lab. Antibiotics were prescribed for ten days and we received instructions to wash the sore with warm soapy water at least twice a day. The doctor also instructed us to apply hot compresses to the infected area 4 to 5 times a day so that it would come to a head and drain properly. It was also vitally important to keep the infected area completely covered with a bandage during the day and he had to wash his hands often.
MRSA Staff Infection is highly contagious and can be contracted simply by touching something an infected person has touched with the infection on their hands and then touching yourself somewhere. Trust me when I say that as humans we don't realize how many things we touch before rubbing our eyes or touching our faces and bodies. Just think about the items you touch in a store like the shopping cart someone else you don't even know just used or the credit card payment machine. Don't be germophobic but come into a greater awareness of all the places where germs can and do exist.
The doctor emphasized that no one should even use the same bathroom as my son if possible and absolutely under no circumstances should anyone use the same towel he had used not even to dry their hands. We still don't know where my son contracted MRSA from but since this type of infection has become popular as a community associated disease it can come from anywhere. My son plays baseball so he could have gotten it from wearing the catcher's mask or by touching equipment that had the disease on it from someone else. He also could have easily gotten from a school desk or counter top, the school restroom or even a borrowed pen.
We were extremely blessed that my son's case of MRSA was caught early and easily treated. Some others have not been so fortunate. I remember a client of mine telling me many years ago that she got MRSA from getting a staple in her finger at work and by the time she was treated her blood was poisoned and she had to have IV treatments for a number of months. Back then I didn't know what MRSA was but I remembered her experience when my son was diagnosed. To truly diagnose the disease you have to get the lab results back but the disease can be so deadly it is important to treat it as MRSA right away if MRSA is suspected and not wait on the results to start taking action.
Another incident I heard of from a friend was about her brother that had MRSA but it was misdiagnosed as a spider bite so he was given the wrong treatment while the MRSA got worse. By the time the doctors found out what it really was he had to have the infected area cut open and dug out almost reaching down to his bone. If MRSA is not properly treated and if all the infection is not removed it can come back and require further treatment. If you have a child with MRSA make sure you notify the school nurse and oversee the treatment of the disease carefully. It is also very important that the entire antibiotic treatment is taken to the very end and a follow up visit to the doctor is recommended upon completion of the antibiotics. As always, when taking antibiotics, plenty of water should be consumed.
MRSA can be fatal so kill it before it kills you! The steps to take are simple really. You've already taken the first step by reading this article and educating yourself about this disease. If you suspect that you or someone you know may have MRSA please see a doctor right away. Here are some tips for you to follow regarding MRSA:
- Seek early diagnosis and treatment if you suspect you may have MRSA due to puss filled, red, soar or irritated areas on your body and skin.
- Take the full prescription of antibiotics prescribed by your doctor.
- Wash your hands often and clean surfaces with germ killing substances or wipes.
- Do not come into physical contact with someone you know has been diagnosed with MRSA.
- Keep soars and infected areas clean and covered.
- Stay informed and live healthy.
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