2008 Woodie Awards
School safeguards against super bug
Shelby Higginbotham
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: News
A little bump can cause a lot of pain.
Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as staph, quickly is becoming what is known as the super bug. CA-MRSA is a bacterium that is found in the nose or on the skin. Although most people carry the bacteria without having any symptoms, it can cause skin or soft tissue infections if CA-MRSA gets into a cut. Once this happens, a small pimple-like bump will appear, followed by swelling, redness, heat around the infection and extreme pain.
Brenda Higgins, Student Health Center director and family nurse practitioner, said people are terming CA-MRSA the super bug because it is extremely resistant to antibiotics.
"People today use antibiotics so frequently that CA-MRSA has built up a resistance to most antibiotics," she said. " ... There are probably only two [antibiotics] that can treat MRSA now."
Higgins said that this year there have probably only been four or five students who have come into the health center who were diagnosed with CA-MRSA. These cases were not extremely serious because the infection had not yet reached the blood stream. The students with this infection had an incision cut into the area, which then drained the fluid from under the skin. The health center gave these students antibiotics to help the sore heal faster. Higgins said the most common way to treat the infection is to make an incision and drain the fluid.
"We try to use antibiotics as little as possible because using these wouldn't guarantee that the infection would be cured," Higgins said.
Higgins said the people who are most likely to contract the infection are athletes, health club users, children and the elderly. She also said the best way to prevent the staph infection is by practicing frequent hand washing, taking a shower as soon as possible after exercise, cleaning the surfaces of exercise equipment before and after use and not sharing items such as razors or towels. Higgins said that if anyone is experiencing any symptoms of CA-MRSA, he or she should visit the health center or a doctor immediately.
Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as staph, quickly is becoming what is known as the super bug. CA-MRSA is a bacterium that is found in the nose or on the skin. Although most people carry the bacteria without having any symptoms, it can cause skin or soft tissue infections if CA-MRSA gets into a cut. Once this happens, a small pimple-like bump will appear, followed by swelling, redness, heat around the infection and extreme pain.
Brenda Higgins, Student Health Center director and family nurse practitioner, said people are terming CA-MRSA the super bug because it is extremely resistant to antibiotics.
"People today use antibiotics so frequently that CA-MRSA has built up a resistance to most antibiotics," she said. " ... There are probably only two [antibiotics] that can treat MRSA now."
Higgins said that this year there have probably only been four or five students who have come into the health center who were diagnosed with CA-MRSA. These cases were not extremely serious because the infection had not yet reached the blood stream. The students with this infection had an incision cut into the area, which then drained the fluid from under the skin. The health center gave these students antibiotics to help the sore heal faster. Higgins said the most common way to treat the infection is to make an incision and drain the fluid.
"We try to use antibiotics as little as possible because using these wouldn't guarantee that the infection would be cured," Higgins said.
Higgins said the people who are most likely to contract the infection are athletes, health club users, children and the elderly. She also said the best way to prevent the staph infection is by practicing frequent hand washing, taking a shower as soon as possible after exercise, cleaning the surfaces of exercise equipment before and after use and not sharing items such as razors or towels. Higgins said that if anyone is experiencing any symptoms of CA-MRSA, he or she should visit the health center or a doctor immediately.
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