Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Super Bug - MRSA and Its Symptoms


MRSA is an abbreviation for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. This bacterium is known to cause skin infections along with many other types of infections. MRSA is called a "super bug" because the infections caused by this organism are resistant to many common antibiotics like the ones belonging to the beta-lactam family, including methicillin and penicillin.

MRSA belongs to the large group of bacteria known as Staphylococci, often referred to as Staph.

The symptoms of MRSA infection depend on the part of the body that has been infected. It generally appears as a skin infection, like a boil or abscess. It also might infect a surgical wound. You could detect it if that area of your body looks swollen, red, and painful or is filled with pus. Other signs for this infection are:

Sty: It is the infection of eyelid gland

Carbuncles: These are infections larger than an abscess, usually with several openings to the skin

Impetigo: This is a skin infection with pus-filled blisters

You should be very careful if these symptoms are visible on your body as many people don't take it seriously and mistake it for a spider bite. One major problem with MRSA is that many a times the skin infection can spread to other parts of the body as well. And when this happens, it leads to the development of more severe symptoms. In fact, spread of this bacterium to internal organs can become life-threatening. Therefore, you should never take any symptom lightly and consult the doctor right away.

If MRSA infects the lungs and causes pneumonia, you might experience the following:

o Shortness of breath

o Fever

o Cough

o Chills

There can be other MRSA symptoms as it can infect the urinary tract or the bloodstream also.








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