What are the treatmens of MRSA?!
Question: I am getting tested for MRSA tomorrow and i was just wondering what they do to test you and what are common treatments? Thanks
Answers: I am getting tested for MRSA tomorrow and i was just wondering what they do to test you and what are common treatments? Thanks
I agree with most of what the nursing student had to say. The specific testing depends on the site of the infection but I can almost guarantee that you will have a nasal swab taken for culturing because that's a favorite site for any kind of Staph. If you have an infected wound (and this includes surgical incisions), a culture will be taken from the wound bed. MRSA can be in the blood and so blood cultures are ordered and run. MRSA can be in the sputum, in which case a sputum specimen will be collected. MRSA can be in an abscess and an incision & drainage to collect a culturable specimen can be done. MRSA can be in the urine, blah, blah, blah. If you are colonized, you'll require no treatment.
Methicillin and other related, broad spectrum, penicillin-type antibiotics are not used because they aren't effective. HA-MRSA (hospital-associated) and CA-MRSA (community-acquired) may be dealt with in different ways. Yes, vancomycin can be used for both and bacitracin (topical and/or systemic) and linezolid are also used to treat HA-MRSA and Bactrim for CA-MRSA. These are not the only meds that can be used. There's also Rifampin and clindamycin. Most are given orally. Chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) can be used as a body wash for whatever length protocol your doctor chooses. If you are prescribed Hibiclens, do NOT deviate from the instructions.
If you're colonized, there's no treatment necessary.
Understanding MRSA Detection and Treatment
How do I know if I have it?
Your health care provider will be able to run lab tests to see if you have MRSA. If you have an infection on the skin, your doctor will take a culture from the infected area. Depending on your symptoms, your doctor might test also your blood, urine, or sputum.
Understanding MRSA
MRSA is called a "super bug" because infections are resistant to many common antibiotics.
What are the treatments?
The good news is that MRSA is treatable. By definition, MRSA is resistant to some antibiotics. But other kinds of antibiotics still work. Bactrim and Vancocin (vancomycin) are often the first drugs used. Other options are Cleocin, Levaquin, Cubicin, Zyvox, and Synercid. Some of these antibiotics may need to be given intravenously. There is also emerging antibiotic resistance being seen with some of these medications as well.
Antibiotics aren't always necessary. If you have a skin boil, your doctor may just make an incision and drain it.
If you are prescribed antibiotics, follow your health care provider's instructions precisely. Never stop taking your medicine, even if you're feeling better. If you don't take all of your medicine, some of the strongest staph bacteria may survive. These survivors then have the potential to become resistant to the antibiotic. They also could reinfect you or infect someone else.
MRSA is only resistant to methacillan. That doesn't mean that methacillan is completely ineffective and can't be used to treat it. They still use methacillan to treat it. More commonly it's treated with Bactrim or Vancomycin. Vancomycin is currently the strongest antibiotic that we have on the market, and it can produce some nasty side effects. You think MRSA is scary? How about Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci... That's really scary!!!!
It depends how you mean treat. If there is colonisation of without symptoms, you can try to eradicate it with chlorhexidine washes and mupirocin ointment up your nostrils. Then you need to be reswabbed in two or three weeks.
In systemic infection - e.g. pneumonia, antibiotics will need to be given. Teicoplanin, vancomycin, tigecycline and linezolid are intravenous drug for serious infections. Whilst longer term oral treatment can be given with rifampicin and septrin.