MRSA Information
Understand the science behind the threat to protect your health and the health of those around you.
MRSA is a type of Staphylococcus aureus—a bacteria often referred to simply as “staph”. These are commonly carried on the skin or nose of healthy people, and approximately 25% to 30% of the population is colonized, meaning the bacteria are present, but not causing an infection. Sometimes, staph can cause an infection and are one of the most common causes of skin infections in the United States—most of these skin infections are minor, such as pimples and boils, and can be treated without antibiotics (also known as antimicrobials or antibacterial).
However, staph bacteria also can cause serious infections, such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia. Some staph bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to antibiotics called beta-lactams. Beta-lactam antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin. While 25% to 30% of the population is colonized with staph, approximately 1% is colonized with MRSA.
Under the Microscope
It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 30 individuals carries Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) on their skin, alongside a plethora of other bacteria that are essential for the maintenance of the body’s ecosystem. Problems arise when this strain of bacteria enters beneath the skin, resulting in inflammation of the tissue at the infection site. MRSA is most commonly known to cause infections in the skin, respiratory tract, urinary tract and bloodstream.
One of the primary distinctions between MRSA and a typical septic infection is its degree of resistance to antibiotics. MRSA is resistant to several types of commonly-used antibiotics, limiting treatment options and increasing the fatality of the infection.
Learn more about the evolution of superbugs
Contraction
MRSA is typically spread through skin-to-skin contact or via contaminated objects or surfaces, and can cause both mild and severe infections that can be life-threatening.
MRSA can be spread through contact with contaminated medical equipment, such as catheters or ventilators, or through contact with healthcare workers who are carrying the bacteria on their hands or clothing.
Hospital footwear unexpectedly spreads MRSA
In the Netherlands, the annual incidence of MRSA infections rose more than threefold from 2001 to 2006. Of these cases, one third were a result of interspecies transmission from MRSA-colonized livestock, such as cattle, pigs, and poultry. The overuse of antibiotics in animals led to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of MRSA which are capable of being spread between humans and animals.
Livestock veterinarians face eight times the risk
The Texas State Department of Health conducted three studies which found that the infection rate among football players was 16 times higher than the national average. In an athletic setting, MRSA can be spread through skin-to-skin contact or through shared equipment that is not properly disinfected between uses.
MRSA threatens an end to Daniel Fells’ career
Patient Experiences
Typically presented as swollen, painful red bumps that may resemble pimples or spider bites, MRSA rashes can rapidly develop into deep, painful boils that require surgical draining. In some cases, the bacteria remain confined to the skin. In others, however, they burrow deep into the body, leading to life-threatening infections in bones, joints, and surgical wounds. If a patient develops a severe case of MRSA, they can expect to be hospitalized for approximately 10 days with the addition of being isolated from other patients to mitigate the infection’s spread from person to person.
Man on the verge of death sues over untreated MRSA
Treatment Challenges
In the earlier decades of antibiotic use, regular research and development enabled the emergence of new antibiotics at a near-yearly rate. In the event that a patient’s infection grew immune to a particular antibiotic, an alternative would be prescribed to combat the microbe. However, no new class of antibiotic has been discovered since 1987, leaving few antibiotics to which microbes remain vulnerable. Antibiotic resistance is an unavoidable step in any microbe’s evolutionary fight to survive, and with the pace of medical developments failing to match the relentless evolution of these microscopic assailants, the war between the human biome and infectious threats has been pushed to the extreme we are experiencing today — over one million deaths were attributed to antibiotic resistance in 2019 alone.
Despite the treatment challenges posed by the MRSA superbug, there is hope for its effective treatment. In October of 2022, scientists at the University of Bath in the UK discovered a novel compound with the potential to significantly inhibit the activity of MRSA while making it more susceptible to antibiotics. This compound works by disrupting the pathogenic cell membrane, leading to the destruction of its cell’s functions and hindering the bacterium’s ability to reproduce and cause harm. This discovery provides a novel avenue for the treatment of MRSA, one which could prove to be more effective than traditional antibiotics.
New compound renders MRSA more vulnerable to antibiotics