Have you ever heard of MRSA?

1. 60

   xanzacowposted 12 years ago

   Have you ever heard of MRSA?
   
   I am a Registered Nurse, and one of the questions I must ask patients upon admission to the hospital is if they have MRSA. A lot of them reply, "What's that?" I am interested in seeing what the general public knows about this growing problem. Have YOU ever heard of MRSA?

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2. 61

   sfrentz06posted 12 years ago

   I've only heard a little about MRSA, but I heard on the news today that it is being transmitted into meat that people consume.

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3. 63

   Anne Pettitposted 12 years ago

   Yes, it's the antibiotic resistant staph infection that is commonly in hospitals.  It's really important to wash hands, now more than ever.  Soap and water in a sink is best.  Wash those germs down the drain, instead of moving them around with hand cleaner.

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   Curiadposted 12 years ago

   I have now, I did a Google search and got the information on this issue.

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5. 64

   lukeukposted 12 years ago

   Yes i do but then again i have studied AS bio

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6. 70

   mommyneal6posted 12 years ago

   Yes, working in the health care system,I hear it a lot. It wasn't until recently that I thought it was only something that older people who lived in nursing homes or spent a lot of time in hospitals got. I knew anyone could get it but it seemed rare. Now, a ton of people have it. It's basically an infection that will not go away with anitbotics. It's stronger than the antibiotics can kill. I'm pretty sure that one you have it, you will always have it. It flares up and such but if left untreated it can kill you. A friend of mine's daughter who is 2 has it, it's pretty scary. She get sores and if they start to look infected they pretty much know that it's a flare up of the MRSA. There are so many things I think the general public don't know about, like MRSA, VRE, and C-diff. Good quesion!

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   edhanposted 12 years ago

   This is a good question. First time I had been heard of MRSA. You have taught me something new. At least now I have knowledge about this.

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8. 58

   Pamela Sarzanaposted 12 years ago

   MRSA is a superbug Staph infection.  It has to be treated immediately, and aggressively. Re-curing MRSA is resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is becoming more prevalent in schools, colleges, and jails.

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9. 61

   JMAWposted 12 years ago

   it's pretty intense... my ex's Dad got a case of it awhile ago and it downed him for a weeks.  that could also be though because he refused to take it easy and stay out of the water...

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    duffsmomposted 12 years ago

    Absolutely, and that stuff is scary and hard to treat.

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11. 62

    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    I've heard of it.  It killed a friend of mine who had had surgery.  Based on what I, in the general public, have heard; I'm under the impression that one of the biggest problems associated with the spread of MRSA is health-care workers who don't take enough precautions to prevent it.
    
    I heard of one hospital (Johns Hopkins, maybe?) where a concerted effort (over, I believe, a period of about a year) to educate health-care workers on things like hand-washing and cross-contamination resulted in decreasing MRSA infections dramatically.
    
    Personally, I've been pretty shocked to hear that so many doctors and nurses are apparently in need of being reminded to wash their hands more often, or to be more careful about some of the other things they do.
    
    Maybe it's just the particular little group of "general public" I hang around with (generally, middle-class adults), but I'm under the impression people are quite well educated on the matter of MRSA.

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12. 82

    jacqui2011posted 12 years ago

    All I know is that it is some kind of superbug commonly found in hospitals. I live in Leicester, UK and recently visited a friend in hospital and the nurses were very vigilant in ensuring that we all used the hand gel provided before entering and after leaving the ward. I have heard of MRSA, but since you asked the question, I have googled it also and found out so much. Thank you for bringing it to our attention - its an important issue which we should all be aware of.

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    MellyMooposted 12 years ago

    Yes .... I have had it!  I have had four caesars and developed a wound infection after my first and third babies.  It wasn't until I was pregnant with my fourth and I was admitted because of the pregnancy cholestasis that I found out.  The only reason that I found out was because the doctor found it on my file and they isolated me which was a horrible experience.  Even the morning tea ladies were not allowed in my room and any staff that came in to do my obs had to wash their hands and wear gloves.  I felt so yucky.  The infection that I had after having my son (no. 3) was terrible and took many rounds of antibiotics to clear.  The thing that surprised me at the time was that it took them about 5wks to take a swab to determine what the bug actually was and from there, once on the right antibiotic, it cleared up but it took till about week 10 to be completely healed!!!  I guess they didn't tell me cos they didn't want to scare me and also because they did not want the general public hearing from me which hospital I had been in etc.  I was isolated upon my second admission too and had to be isolated until Ihad had 3 clear test results for MRSA.  I have to say that I was always very careful with hygeine, however upon my many hospital visits throughout each pregnancy for checkups etc, I saw many nurses who did not wash their hands after going to the toilet!!! I wrote a letter of complaint to the hospital about this and also about a broken soap dispenser that was left that way for two months (no soap in sight!) and yet there were signs everywhere speaking of the importance of washing hands with soap and water!!!

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14. 94

    sangreposted 12 years ago

    Yes, I think it has had so much publicity in the media here and hospitals in Ireland now have hand sanitisers at the doors of the hospital. It's quite a big problem in Ireland.

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