What Does MRSA Look Like
Sometimes things are not what they seem. A visitor commented that he thought his wife had been bitten by a brown recluse which looked just like a bite, but instead, it turned out to be an MRSA Staph Infection.
Here is information on this infection that can mimic a spider bite. Want to see what happens when a bite gets infected? Then check out our section on Staph Infection.
So, what is Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus?
This is what MRSA looks like after healing.
Staphylococcus aureus (staph) is a bacteria (germ) found on and in healthy people’s skin and nose. It also grows in wounds or other body parts, sometimes causing an infection. For example, staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections.
They used to prescribe Penicillin for the treatment of staph infections. However, over time many staph bacteria have become difficult to treat with Penicillin and antibiotics related to Penicillin.
These new or resistant forms of Staphylococcus aureus are called methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The illnesses they cause are the same as those caused by other staph; the difference is how they are treated.
MRSA
MRSA looks like a normal staph bacteria in the early stages and usually doesn’t cause disease until it enters an opening in the skin. Some people are at higher risk of carrying MRSA or becoming infected with this type of staph.
MRSA more often occurs in people in hospitals and healthcare facilities. It can also happen outside the hospital in people who receive multiple antibiotics, as well as in people who have close contact with a person carrying the germ or by touching objects contaminated with MRSA (e.g., clothes, towels, bedding, athletic equipment, benches in saunas or hot tubs, bandages).
Staph bacteria (including MRSA) are most often spread by close contact with infected people or the things they touch. It is not spread through the air.
Many people don’t realize they carry staph bacteria on their skin. A MRSA or other staph infection’s symptoms depends on the infection’s location. The most common are skin infections, and can cause symptoms such as redness, warmth, pus, and a wound that does not heal.
Your doctor may refer to these infections as boils, furuncles, impetigo, or abscesses. Infections can also develop in the blood, bone, bladder, lungs, and other sites. Symptoms there will depend on the site of infection but include fever and pain at the site.
Think you have MRSA?
Do you have MRSA or other staph infections? If so, you should see your healthcare provider. It can be hard to tell what MRSA looks like, and tests are the best way to find out if you need treatment, but don’t wait!
MRSA and other staph infections are treatable! Some staph skin infections can be treated simply by draining the sore and keeping the wound clean. For more severe infections, antibiotics can be used to treat these infections.
If your healthcare provider prescribes antibiotics, it is crucial to finish taking all the pills and call your doctor if the infection does not improve.
I am glad for the information that you have presented on your website. I was horrified and began to feel sick when seeing the pictures of what could have been for me as well so I felt compelled to share my story.
I was out in my garden, in a skirt, pretending to be Martha Stewart. While sitting on the pavement near a low lying juniper bush I felt a prick on my inner thigh. I just moved over some, thinking I mistakenly sat on some cut bushes. That was on a Friday. By Monday evening I was feeling as if I was was getting sick and had an overall “bad feeling.” On Tuesday afternoon, when visiting the restroom at work, I felt sore on my inner thigh and thought that a mole there was just irritated. When I touched the area, it felt swollen. When I placed a wash cloth there, I noticed two sets of blood stains like pinholes and I moisturized it with baby oil. At the end of the day, I had a headache, felt tired and “sick” and my thigh was pulsating. I could not understand what was going on and inspected my thigh more thoroughly with a a mirror and found two sets of what could be fang marks! I had seen, what I now know to be brown recluse spiders in our garden, and had caught a few in the house that summer. I am petrified of spiders and called poison control immediately. They laughed at me when I expressed my concerns and advised me that no spiders in the US are poisonous and all I need is a antibiotic treatment from my doctor and should not be concerned.
By Wednesday I had fever and chills and horrible drawing pains. By Thursday I could not put my legs together to walk. There was a big pulsating lesion or abscess there and by the time I went to the ER, it was draining blood and pus.
Well, although I recounted the story to the triage nurse, she did not warrant any truth to my thought of it being a spider bite and, when I asked if she would at least draw blood and send it to the lab while I waited to be seen by the doctor, the lab results could confirm or deny my suspicions. She too laughed and waved me with unconcern to sit in the waiting room. It had been five hours by the time I was seen, and that was only at the insistence of others in the waiting room because the blood and pus was dripping on to the floor and they claimed that i looked as if I were going to faint.
They performed surgery to drain and remove the infected skin, leaving a whole as wide and as deep as a quarter. They discharged me as if I were a diabetic with an abscess (an assumption because I was overweight and African American). I was instructed to return two days later to review the healing.
Two days later, the hospital called and indicated that I was given the wrong antibiotic for what the lab results indicated was Staphylococcus Aureus and that the antibiotic was not strong enough to protect me! I could have died with the infection spreading all throughout my body had I not returned as instructed thinking that everything was probably fine! I was given Levaquin and told that I would need to see a surgeon and schedule surgery in an operating room. They suggested I find a cancer surgeon because the wound was exposing my bone and a cancer surgeon could work best with repairing it.
Without continuing to give you a day by day account of this incident, suffice it to say that a higher power intervened for me and what I was told would have taken 8 weeks to heal took only three! The main points I want to make is that the medical industry, perhaps, at that time, no one understood brown recluse spiders pose a great danger with Staphylococcus Aureus; also, no one took me seriously when I indicated that I had been bitten by a spider, or even took my suggestion to draw blood for lab work while I waited to be seen ….!
Now my question to you is this: this happened in 2003. In the past two years, I have noticed vertical lines on my nails: they are not raised and there are no splits. I used to get artificial nails done frequently but stopped just about a year ago. A friend said that these lines are an indication of yeast buildup in my body. I also seem to have a consistent buildup of mucous in my lungs which the expectorate is white, a little cotton like surrounded by clear mucous. When reading the information about yeast infections and seeing that it can be generated from Staphylococcus Aureus from spider bites (your website) I am concerned that spider bite incident is not over and done with. Could you please advise? I would like to have any information from other’s that you have compiled or any trend that you have seen with these spider bites and subsequent symptoms from Staphylococcus Aureus.
I am extremely appreciative for your information.
Zelda
I had ventral hernia repair with mesh and partial tummy tuck to hold it all in Feb 2007. The hernia was caused by a perforayed dueodenum surgery done Dec 2005 which had MRSA in it. I have been diagnosed with 5cm hernia with fat in the hernia, no intetine in the hernia. The past 3 months I have been having SOB, joint aches, chills, chest pain, back pain and low grade fever, I have also had burning in the closed hernia repair site. Is it possible my MRSA is active in the old hernia repair site and if so how can I have the MRSA ruled out?
11 Years ago my13 year old daughter passed away ,multi system organ failure , due to MRSA . She had no open sores at the time of her admission to the children’s hospital in mpls . To this day we still do not know where she contracted the bacteria. I have interviewed with the BBC and also with Micheal Shnayerson who wrote a book called ” The Killers Within” If anyone out there can help please email moniponi24@ yahoo.com . I appreciate any thing helpful. Thank You.
HI ! I’m looking for some help. My brother-in-law had surgery for his ACL in September. He had to have emergency surgery on Dec. 15 due to the knee beeing infected. They believe it was a staph infection. The doctors removed the screw and washer and believed they had found the source of his infection. However, two weeks later he has been in and out of the hospital with a high fever and aches. He has a chest PICC, which has been in and removed and placed back in again. He is still not better! He is still in the hospital and the doctors are not telling my sister much. I feel for her because she lives three thousand miles away from us and is trying to take care of their triplet four year old sons on her own! Do you think he has MRSA? Is there and advice that someone can share with me to pass onto her so she can get some answers!!! She just called saying he looks awful, fever, shaking, and difficulty breathing!!
I’m sure I also have mrsa, it’s been about a month now and I have had four(4) painfully outbreaks on my legs. I really advise anyone who might have mrsa to not wait to see if it goes away on its own to get checked out.
Hi, there. I live outside Portland, OR. This is a tad embarrassing…I thought I had a zit (or sebaceous cyst) on my breast, and so I’ve been treating it w/ alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, etc. It is Nov 7th and it HURTS LIKE CRAZY, and my astute roomie says it looks like some sort of bite. (Actually, it looks like a third nipple, but we won’t go there!) Brassieres chafe like the dickens, as does merely touching it. The first day I noticed it (2 days ago) it was the size of a pea. Today it seems to have broadened in area & has some peeling skin around the darkened center. At first, I freaked, thinking of some sort of breast cancer (I’m 42) but a bite looks a lot more plausible. I have spent time sleeping in friends’ basements recently, so perhaps a spider bite?
Nov 12: I went to get my bite checked last Saturday, when a doctor says, “Oh, wow,” it does not inspire confidence! She concluded it was an abscess or…MRSA! She put me on Bactrim (horse pill-sized antibiotics), recommended hot packs 3x/day and wanted to see me Mon or Tues. I thought that was a little soon, so I scheduled it for tomorrow (Wed.) Well, right now, I’m counting the minutes til the checkup. The abscess/bite/MRSA has expanded incredibly and is NOT draining, as the doc had hoped it would. Also, it has a dark/blackish center, leading me to believe something is necrotizing (???) I’m hoping I don’t have to have anything excised tomorrow, but at this point, it would be a relief!
Thanks for listening. Hope this can help some folks.
AJ in Oregon
Hi, Jim,
Thank you for writing back! Yeah, I kind of figured posting pictures of that particular area of my anatomy might cause some problems…
BTW, went to my doc’s for a recheck yesterday (today is Nov 13th). I guess the hot packing & Bactrim are doing SOME good–she says the red area looks to have receded slightly and that the center part is softer. The dark area I had feared was necrotized tissue was actually dried blood that had pooled there. She still was not pleased that it had not drained on its own yet, though. So out came the lancet, and, sans anesthesia (she said the area was too close to the surface to be affected and she didn’t like sticking things into breast tissue–good by me) she opened the sore. Clenched teeth & fists aside, it felt good to have SOMETHING finally happening w/ this thing! Like many of the photos/videos on your site, it was a torrent o’ blood-tinged pus, but it was just the beginning, and I need to keep draining it at home.
I was meeting my boyfriend immediately after the appointment, and didn’t think pus-draining would be terribly romantic, so I put it off til the evening. It somewhat grosses me out to do it by myself–which is weird, I’m a vet tech & I deal w/ animal abscesses, fecal exams & other unpleasant fluids–but I know it has to be done! Oh, and the doctor did swab for a culture, so hopefully I should find out by next week at the latest what bit or took up residence on my skin. She seems to be really leaning toward MRSA, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Thanks again, Jim, you do have a terrific, very informative site.
PS I actually love spiders and have never seen as many in my life as I did after moving here to Oregon 15 yrs ago!
Nov 18……….
Jim,
Hi, AJ here. The doc finally got back w/ me re: the culture results. Ta da: MRSA! Apparently, it is out there in epidemic proportions these days, though I still can’t figure out how I contracted it, as I’m not a hugely social person & I’m allergic to the gym & team sports. :) I asked whether it was zoonotic (as I do work around animals) and she said she honestly wasn’t sure. I’ve done some internet research, however, and found several articles concerning the definite possibility of zoonotic transmission to veterinary personnel:
vet.cornell.edu/FHC/news/mrsa.htm
avma.org/onlnews/javma/nov08/081115c.asp
wormsandgermsblog.com/articles/another_category/test_subcategory/
Then again, seeing as my nickname at work is “Fangmagnet,” I’m really starting to wonder if dealing w/ all these random cats (in a no-kill cat shelter in the on-site hospital) could’ve been the method of transmission…
As for the “bite” site itself, you can see from the pic below that it’s resolved into just a bit of a crater (there’s been no serious drainage for several days now) w/ a bit of redness & dried skin surrounding it. At any rate, since the pus drained, it doesn’t hurt anymore, thank goodness!
Another thing my doc said was that the incidence of actual spider bites seen are few & far between–that the majority (if not all that she’s seen) turn out to be MRSA.
Anyhow, thanks again, Jim, for riding this out w/ me & all the other folks out there who find strange wounds/infections on their bodies–you do a wonderful service for the community.
Take care!
I just dealt with a MRSA staph infection a couple of months ago, not the best experience of my life. it started on my cheek bone and by the end of the week the whole left side of my face was swollen and was starting to move down my neck making breathing difficult. This is an extremely painful infection and you should not try to pop or drain it yourself you can cause it to enter your bloodstream causing blood poisoning and allow the infection to spread to other organs including your brain, lungs, etc…. so as you can see theses infections are deadly and should be treated right away if you go to your doctor and they automatically claim spider bite without checking you should ask him to do a staph infection check, they are often mistaken for spider bites. I sent Jim some pictures of the infection so you can see the progession of it, it ends abrubtly because I was admitted to the hospital and was there for about a week.
Oct. 4. 2008
Got a few spider bites about 2 weeks ago. These were on my neck. They werent as bad as others. But a week ago noticed a large bump under my hair line on neck.It looked like another spider bite. A week went by and I treated as usual but I developed a severe headache, extreme tiredness and feeling faint. The area was extremely swollen and so painful, I could not touch it. Went to Dr. and he said a staph infection, then he told me I had MRSA. He wanted to drain area but he said he was afraid of spreading the infection. He put me on Clindamycin for 10 days. Told to use hot packs and try and keep covred. This is hard since it in in my scalp area. He said to return in about 5 days if not better. He also said I would probably feel worse for a couple of days because of the meds. This morning the back of my head is throbbing and burning.
I have had other bites before. I think I get them from my garden. This is the worst reaction I have ever had.
My main concern is that I raise a child with primary immune deficiency and MRSA is bad if she catches it.
Thanks for listening.
Bette-Jo
Washington
Shortly after posting my comment, I had to go into the ER due to the site becoming worse. I had to be rushed into surgery that day. I was in the hospital for 7 days. I now have a PICC line that goes into my heart from my inner upper arm. Through this PICC line, I receive a strong antibiotic. I will have this 11 inch line (similar to an IV line) for 8 weeks. I give my self daily treatments through IV’s. For those who are reading this, MRSA is a serious infection. Please seek medical attention and receive doctors advise ASAP. I am a healthy individual who has never had any diseases or infections. My immune system could not fight it off with the standard MRSA dosages. I sanitize everything that I come in contact with due to bacteria that I may pass along to others. My heart and prayers go out to anyone that has MRSA.
I have had two out breaks of MRSA now. I was presribed sulfamethoxazole for 30 days at taking 2 pills twice a day. I am concerned with me taking the medication for this length that my system will be come adjusted to the antibiotic. And, if for some reason, in the future I have another outbreak that the medication will not work. Can you please advise. Also, My husband and I were discused becoming pregnant. Is MRSA curable? Or will it possible stay in my system for the rest of my life. I am just worried that I might pass it along to the unborn child.
Some interesting update published in BBC News 8th May 2008.
Doctors working in Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust (UK) begun prescribing the insertion of cannulae – a small tube used for giving intravenous fluids. Since they introduced this policy last November there have been no new cases of MRSA infections.
This figure covers all forms of MRSA, including bloodstream infections (also known as bacteraemia) and wound infections. This compares to 2007/08 when there was 11 reported bloodstream infections.
This proves you can stop introducing antibiotic resistant bacterial infections in patients if you stop using IV Cannula. This proves my observation and hypothesis is correct. This also tells us that bacteraemia occurring due to spread from wounds may be wrong and will need to further investigation. Wound infection probably occurs through blood stream infection.
I am a Medical Technologist and have taken most of the med school classes even though I was not accepted into med school. I do have a rare tumor and have gone through 6 months of IV antibiotics for my wife because she was beaten during a home invasion and the resulting damage to her face caused infection to set up in her bone marrow.
Between the two of us, we have been to Mayo Clinic, to research projects at University hospitals, to specialists at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and for YEARS of seeking treatment in MANY places. If I were you, I would contact the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia directly. If you have difficulty getting through, or getting an answer to what is the best antibiotics to receive at this time for the MRSA infection (also Wikipedia offers a lot of suggestions!), but I would keep calling and keep calling.
Doctors told me that I would die by 2001 and here it is 2008 and I am still kicking! I am able to carry out a mostly normal life which is a lot better than being DEAD! The only thing that saved me was my wife’s and my persistence and my family doctor’s willingness to believe what we told him and let us try the medications and treatments that we thought were working best–even when other specialists said they did not work!
Now those same specialists say that I may live almost a full lifetime! Don’t give up! Don’t let anyone who says negative stuff or gets tired of listening to you get you down! Just keep trying! New medications are developed every day! And sometimes your own body kicks in and helps!
Good luck and keep trying the Centers for Disease Control even if they don’t want to hear from you! Ask them about the treatments for both situations–MRSA and also for recluse spider bites. It might be best to make two different calls and ask about the spider bite first. Be as nice as you can but be persistent! Persistence makes the difference!
Try to get them to know you and to feel sympathy for you and your loved one. Also, expect a LONG fight! There are just some diseases that take YEARS to fight but the end result is well worth it! I hope Andre gets well soon! As a common cat poster says “Hang in there, Baby!”
Rhonda’s comment that spider bite may be linked could be true. Routine treatment given to people with any bite (dog, insect or human) has always been for staphylococcus. These antibiotics (flucloxacillin, fusidic acid etc) worked well on most people.
In medical literatures there have been various reports about MRSA colonizing in pets and pass then on to their owners. Since 1980’s this bug has developed resistance and doctors are struggling to find alternate ways to treat.
I sincerely hope Andre will respond to high dose of antibiotic and get well soon.
Hi. I have a real problem here and I’ve been looking around for anyone who can help or knows much about this, because the doctors here don’t seem to. I already knew about the “brown recluse” myth years ago; because I once worked for the vector control department out here. Anyway– I’ve never been one to be afraid of spiders. I actually like them, and encourage people not to kill them as they so often seem to want to do.
But this is really getting really serious real quick. My boyfriend has MRSA now, and after several doctors visits, X-rays, MRI’s, 3 days in the hospital, 2 debridements, and now a PICC line inserted into his heart to deliver the full strength of anti-biotic possible, they still have been unable to determine the origin of the wound itself. I am pretty darn sure it was a “desert recluse”, or some related species, and I’m not thinking this out of ignorance.. I’m thinking because we found the web, and saw the spider herself later but she was too quick for us to catch. We took a photo of her but it isn’t that good; it doesn’t show how strangely colored she was. Almost reminded me of a White Widow, if there could be such a thing. (We have a lot of widows out here, so we’re sure she wasn’t that). The thing that particularly strikes me in the description is the web-style: I have seen a lot of webs before and never one like this, it was very erratic and haphazard-looking.
So anyway, I’m not sure how much it can help, but I still would like to know. The doctors immediately dismissed our spider theory, though it is the best evidence we have so far… as described, he never felt any pain whenever it happened (he fell asleep outside in the hammock one afternoon, and we’re pretty sure that’s when it was). I can send you a pic if you want to check it out. I am just really freaking worried , because I just read on Wikipedia that MRSA has a 34% mortality rate, so, this is Not Good. Any advice you have or where to look would be most helpful- me & Andre thank you– Rhonda.
Dr Kadiyali M Srivatsa:
I have a question in regards to your response. If my daughter had contracted MRSA through the use of a venous catheter, why did she not get the infection in her blood? Why is she infected inside of her vagina?
The IV was ran in her left hand. Her initial infection began 4 days after having the IV. She woke up in the morning with TONS of dark yellow vaginal discharge. It was either later that evening (or the following evening) that she got the “spider bite” bumps on her labia. The next day, I noticed (2) more red bumps on the back of each leg (about 4 inches below her buttocks)…. and the day after that was when she developed yet another red bump on her left arm.
I am 100% POSITIVE that she acquired MRSA through the emergency room that day. The doctors are all disagreeing with me because of the “site” of her MRSA infection. I have been told, “For all we know, she could have picked it up off a toilet seat in public and been colonized with it for a very long time.” I know that’s NOT TRUE!
February 17th was her last dose of Cipro. I have since been continuing the Mupirocin ointment. Her labia is still “pink”. Her infectious disease dr decided not to reculture her. She said that the culture is MORE THAN LIKELY positive considering the MRSA location. She said if my daughter continues to get “outbreaks”, they will continue to treat with Cipro and possible run rifampin along with it.
I gave her a bath tonight. When I went to apply the Mupirocin, she complained of pain inside her vagina. I gently spread her labia a bit and took a look. She does have SOME (not much) discharge again… and I also noticed a spot inside that is RED RED RED again. I touched the red spot and she cried!!! I then touched a spot (with a different finger tip) and she said that doesn’t hurt at all there. I put a little more Mupirocin on my glove and applied it to the VERY red area. (The area is right AT the vaginal opening). She screamed in pain when I applied it there!
I feel like I am getting no where with these doctors. Unfortunately, they are the only pediatric infectious disease doctors in this area. Everyone trusts Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
What should I do? Please help!! Please give me more advice. I am so afraid of what this may turn into.
Thank you,
Kim
Kim’s letter, points out the problem of managing and highlight difficulties encountered by parents. As doctors we must learn to respect parents and patients concern and be open to accept their opinion.
Temporary central vascular or peripheral catheters are placed in an ever-increasing percentage of hospitalized patients. Venous catheter commonly placed for ease of obtaining blood and to save time in restarting peripheral venous catheters-a practice that should be discouraged. Introducing cannula is often not an easy procedure and multiple punctures used will producing puncture wounds in the skin for organism to enter bloodstream.
Antibiotics once started should theoretically produce good response after 3 doses are given. We as doctors must be aware of bacteria (HA-MRSA, CA-MRSA, E Coli, Clostridiums & Candida) are resistant to antibiotic. Bactrim (Septrin) is often now used in this situation but doctors must be aware this could produce reaction and may not be the best choice for MRSA. Swabs for culture and sensitivity must be organised before starting an antibiotic and not after 7 days of treatment.
Antibiotic in lower dose are often bacteriostatic (stop bacteria multiplying) and in adequate dose are bactericidal (Kill bugs). I feel there is no need to continue using antibiotic for as long as 10 days without proper discussion with microbiologist and the parents. This bacteria is new and most are now resistant to vancomycin. Trying to kill the bacteria with high dose antibiotic is also subjected to debate because the bug release toxins and enzymes which can kill in 12-24 Hours.
Looking for some advice PLEASE!
My 4 yr old daughter was feeling under the weather (so to speak). We went to the ER where she had blood work drawn through and IV. All test came back ok and we were told she only has a virus. They took the IV out after about 4-5 hours and sent us home.
4 days later, she woke up with HORRIBLE vaginal discharge. Since she was on Amoxicillan for an ear infection, the dr. said it was just a yeast infection. She was treated with Diflucan and a vaginal culture was done. Later that evening, she had a few marks on her inner upper thigh and labia that appeared to be “spider bites”. Next day, she woke up with those same marks on the back of each leg. 2 days later, she had one on her arm. I was planning to take her to the dr the next day to get them looked at.
Well, the dr. called before I had the chance to get her looked at. Her vaginal culture came back as “Heavy Growth MRSA”. It is resistant to Clyndamicyn & Erythomycin (sp?). So, they started her on Bactrim.
On day 7 of Bactrim, she had a horrible skin reaction. The Bactrim was stopped and we were given Cirpo. They also cultured her again. (If the culture came back neg. we were to stop the Cipro.)
The culture indeed came back negative. I was told by one dr in the practice to stop the Cipro… and told to continue it for 10 days by another. I chose to continue it. On day 8 of Cipro, I missed 2 doses. The MRSA on her skin immediately got “redder”. I gave the cipro and it went back to “pinkish” again.
I went to see another dr the next day. I told him what happened and he has her on the CIPRO for another 10 days!!!!!
Question…. Should I demand she be started on the Vanco or what??? She still has the “pinkish” areas on her labia.. and some reddish abcesses (sp?) on her inner upper thigh.
Note: I have 4 children and they are all being exposed to this because the darn doctors won’t give her the vanco and call it a day!!! I know that is what it is going to come down to. (My pharmacist also agrees with me.)
I have been reading about MRSA which has shown up in schools and other locations in Jacksonville. It states that people confuse MRSA with spider bites sometimes. My husband went to the doctor who said he thought it was a cyst and to put a heating pad on it which was done. He also gave him antibiotics. But this has a fever in it still and is hard and red, also itches at times and is still painful. I still think it’s a bite. He’s to go back to the doctor Friday if not better.
Helen Harris’s information about using central venous line catheter and increasing chances of survival is not correct. Various antibiotic including minocycline and rifampin are used but its efficiency needs to be established.
I hope someone discovers a suitable antibiotic soon. Doctors believe bacteriostatic (stop growth and multiplication) approach is better because bactericidal (kill) treatment will result in patients dying due to toxins released by the organism. Scientists have identified eight toxins and some six enzymes which are lethal.
We were concerned about the tremendous volume of disposable plastic devices being disposed of on a daily basis and are keen to develop ways to minimise this. Bacteria colonize in blood and body secretions, discarded blood collected in tubes and needles are placed in yellow box (sharp container, hospital waste). These organisams are air bound and multiply rapidly and is likely to move out to colonize in hospital. Bacteria are present on the skin of patients which are often introduced into circulation resulting in systemic infection and death.
The risk factors assessed by NHS in UK clearly document most common cause for spreading antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria are Intravascualr Device as Number 1 risk factor of systemic infection (H-MRSA & CA-MRSA) and Urinary catheters for entrococci (C-Diff & E-Coli)
We noticed increased infection rate (MRSA) in babies who were difficult to cannulate (introduce IV Device). Variuos studies conducted in hospitals, published in medical journals pinpoitn this device as a major risk factor.
Cannula and catheter are not safe to patients because the number of attempts taken to introduce IV Device is unlikly to reduce. Adequate preparation of skin prior to introducing 2nd cannulae can be poor as doctors must spend 1-2 minutes of drying time. Doctors and nurses introduce IV Device in the first attempt in only 60% of patients and after 2-3 years of experience they may be sucessful in only 90% of patients. This coupled with colonization of MRSA on hands and poor sterlization and asepsis when introducing a cannula is likly to increase invasive CA-MRSA.
I’d like to encourage every person to watch practical procedures performed in hospitals (even taking blood for blood test) to protect themselves. Once the bug enters your blood circulation, the infection will spread in your body like a wild fire.
I was diagnosed with MRSA about 4-5 months ago. My first out break started after I unintentionally scratched open what at the time looked like a boil. The site of the cut began to swell, harden and turned red. I went to my doctor and he prescribed an antibiotic named Cephalexin, which did next to nothing. Within a few days the original site had tripled in size so I scheduled another appointment. I was disturbed that my doctor did not take a culture to ascertain what I had and instead referred me to the surgical dept. where they employed the good ol’ fashion “bleed and purge” procedure which left me with a wound that I had to pack with gauzes for a week (not fun). At that point I was prescribed with yet another antibiotic, Sulfamethoxazole. That worked well and I did not have another outbreak for a few months. But now I have another outbreak on my calf which is starting to grow as well as several other pus-bumps on that same leg. I am tired of doctors shoveling pill after pill in my face with next to no results. Antibiotics are definitely overused in this country. They hamper the bodies own natural defenses, kill off the good bacteria and allow the bad bacteria that survive to thrive and grow more resistant. Western medicines reliance on antibiotics has created an artificial bubble that is certain to burst and I fear that we are ill equipped to handle the effects.
I work in a Nursing Home so would love any and all information on this. Thank you, Marianne
This is obviously serious stuff, it’s scary reading all of these experiences. We are waiting, patiently, on my son’s culture results. His sore has not gotten any bigger, but hasn’t really improved either.
It’s still small, like a pea, so even if it is MRSA, we’ll be glad we caught it fast.
On another note, I am concerned for those in this world who overuse antibacterial soaps all the time and hand sanitizer’s. The media and advertisers make it look as though we should use it all the time, but think about the good bacteria you are killing along with the bad! When we kill off the good bacteria, it allows the bad bacteria to come back stronger, and we have less good bacteria to fight it. Sound familiar, like the over prescribed antibiotics causing things like MRSA to develop into hard to treat diseases.
At the same time, I’m caught in the middle not sure what to do. In this case, since MRSA can be so serious, and we’re talking about my child- I will take the medical approach, but hopefully the results will be negative.
Aug 21st 07 I noticed a what I thought to be a bite and it got swollen but I did not think to much about just because I have kind of an allergic reaction to even a wasp sting. By the end of the night on the 22nd my face was swollen to where it looked like I had a tennis ball in my cheek and my jaw went numb and that is when i decided to go to the ER.
They took samples and what not and told me what I had and they were not very nice about it at all. They started an IV and then I got about 5 needles in the face I was in the hospital aprox 8 hours they sent me home with more antibiotics and told me to call the surgeon the next morning.
My face continued to be huge on one side and I went to see him. The way people looked at me scared me because I could tell that it was bad, just by the look on there faces . The surgeon came in and said I wont work on you, you have to act and he called a plastic surgeon! I was not worried about the scar, I was more worried about not being there for my kids.
Good thanks to my plastic surgeon whom did a very well job I have another laugh line that is what I say. Having this has opened my eyes so much, I get sicker easier now which doctors say It might take a little bit to get everything back to normal.
Bleach and antibacterial spray are my best friends!
In April of this year I found what I thought was a small bite or razor bump on my leg that had a little head on it and I scratched it off thinking nothing of it. By 5pm the area was red (about the size of a 50 cent piece) and hurt like a major sunburn if touched. By 6am the following morning the redness which was now also swelling was the size of my hand and it was very difficult to walk.
It continued to get worse so I drove myself to an urgent care center at around 3 pm and the doctor immediately made an incision about 1 in long and 1 1/2 inches deep to drain the infection and started me on IV antibiotics. I was told that if I had waited even another 24 hours at the rate the infection was spreading I would have lost my leg.
He would have liked to hospitalize me but I had no health insurance which by the end of this ordeal ran me about $3,000 with a cash pay discount. It continued to spread from about halfway down the top of my upper thigh to almost the whole length of my calf before it started to get better which took about 5 days to see improvement.
I had to return to the UC daily for 7 days for IV antibiotics and to get the packing changed in my incision ( OMG I almost threw up every time they did it, it hurt so bad) which I had to do for 14 days total along with oral antibiotics. I have had at least one MRSA blister a month since that time and have learned (BY TRIAL AND ERROR) that by NOT scratching it off and just covering it with a bandaid and triple antibiotic ointment and cleaning with alcohol that it will turn into what looks like a big water blister and drain on its own without any need for oral meds.
It turns out that my boyfriend at the time who was constantly getting what we thought were blackwidow bites and taking trips to a different urgent care was actually getting MRSA infections resulting in me getting them. The doctors were very fast to diagnose these as spider bites but no one else had ever gotten bitten or seen these so called spiders that were having him for lunch.
At first I thought I was bitten by some kind of spider, but began to wonder about it! I started working a part time job in June 2007 at our local Wal-Mart store in the TLE Department (Tire Lube Express).
After being there for about a month I began to notice what looked like pimples on my left and right forearms. I thought nothing of it, until the following day when they began to inch horribly. I scratched and scratched, and finally decided to pop them and squeeze out the pus.
Over the next couple of days they began to swell. A large reddish area surrounded a tiny blackish circle on both arms. They next day the pain was so horrible, I went to the local clinic and say a doctor. He prescribed AVELOX which is a strong antibiotic, for a 7 day period. He dismissed the spider bite theory and indicated it was probably MRSA.
After about three week the wounds healed, but several days later I got yet another large wound on my left knee and went back to doctor again. He had me squeeze out some pus and sent it off for culture testing and put me backon AVELOX again this time for 14 days. The results came back positve for MRSA.
Does this mean I am infected for life? Will this ever go away? I am currently taking TURMERIC CAPSULES daily, as I ready it was a healthy home remedy! As well TEA TREE OIL which is a natural antiseptic from Autralia, works well to aid in wound healing! Ever here about that!
Now my wife has MRSA from exposure on her job working with kids as a Arts Teacher. Can I re-catch it from her?
My daughter who is 2 has what appears to be a pimple on her chin. It does have the pus filled head as most pimples do. This is not bothering her in any way however, I am a very paranoid person. Should this cause me any concern? Or is this just what it looks like…. a pimple?
washing the hands makes sense but washing the nose with hypertonic saline makes even more sense. we know that washing the body’s filter emoves bacteria, shrinks swollen membranes and feels good. why not wash?
Me and a friend have been getting these “bites”…welll what we think are bites… the symptoms are close to what some of you have been describeing.i’ve beeen tot he doctors and they perscribed a antibiotic….cuople of weeks later i got another “bite”..along with my friend…
I had what I thought was a spider bite that itched like mad . I went to the Doctor on the 2nd day because it had gotten hard red, and very swollen , She gave me some meds and sent me home , after drawing a line around the redness. The next day the redness had spread I called and was told to come back . She then gave me two shots of a very potent antibiotic,, Went home again . the next morning when I awoke . The red had spread yet further out . and the center was starting to turn black . by the time I got to the Doctors office there were two blister like areas over the black spots, one of which had popped and drained bloody pus. The doctor did a culture and placed me into the hospital.
She didn’t mention MRSA to me or even tell me that she was chekcing me for it. So there I sat in the hospital for two days on iv antibiotics . which seemed to be taking the redness away. All the while i had visitors and took a shower in the shared showeroom. The 3rd day the Doctor told me I had MRSA and they switched my iv to vancomyicin. I was released the next day. And sent home with more meds.
Within like a week my 18 month old daughter had a suspicious boil on her back that was extremely red and swollen , they did a test on her and found she too had mrsa. ( Not surprised because she crawled all over me in my hospital bed and she has contact dermatits (very bad skin rash) She did not have to be treated with vanco. However she had to take a horrid smelling /tasting med 4 times a day for 10 days.
which ment i had to wake her up in the night to give it to her..
i think you should treat any suspicious wound as if you had mrsa. keep it covered, wash your hands ALL the time and keep bedding clean . to avoid spreading it . had I been aware of the dangers my daughter might not have it today .
It’s true you can never completely get rid of it . You can heal the wounds but you will always be a carrier if you’ve had it . and the chances of it affecting you again are higher. MRSA can be deadly.It can be far worse than just a spider like biten infection. ( sometimes infecting joints, lungs, heart) It is nothing to mess around with , and you should do everything you can to not contact it . WASH HANDS all the time .
Also they say it lives mainly in your nostrils , so no picking your nose..
and just figure if someone that does have it picks their nose at say the supermarket then touches a can of peas, then you touch that can of peas.. you have it through cross contamination , now if you have any wounds , bites etc, and you touch them before washing your hands .. look out !!!!
So I thought i had initially been bitten by something, felt sick for a couple of weeks and finally the pain had gotten SO bad that my roommate took me to the ER. That is the last I remember for like 6 weeks. My temp spiked to 105, i was transferred to ICU and had to be put on life support for 4.5 weeks. After multiple tests, they finally figured out I had MRSA septicemia and it infiltrated my heart, lungs, eyes and brain. After a lengthy stint in the hospital that rendered me bankrupt I am MRSA free and fortunately after long term IV antibiotics and multiple surgeries ( 4 retinal surgeries, tracheotomy, tons of invasive cultures and a subsequent gall bladder removal-thank long term IV anti bx for that) I am only blind in one eye, and my lungs, heart and brain are good. This was not quite 2 years ago and while I once thought, at then 27, my life was ruined, I now realize its only changed… I to this day do not know how i got MRSA but I know that it is no joke.
On August 25, 2007 I assume I was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider. At first I thought it was a pimple/mosquito bite under my left eyebrow, so I popped it Saturday night. On Sunday there was a “swollen” area that I applied hot tea bags to (dumb move). On Monday I went to work and no longer used the hot compresses. By 3pm on Monday the eyelid began to swell and fill up. I went home Monday evening and applied more hot compresses (washcloths – ran out of tea bags). At bed time I applied “drawing salve” (been through the brown recluse thing before in high school; 16 years earlier) and covered it with a bandaid. Tuesday morning I woke up with a swollen shut left eye and left cheek down to my lips and over to my ear. But…when I took the bandaid off, the site began to drain.
I went to the Doctor’s Tuesday pm and she prescribed Cipro. I saw her again on Wednesday and she admitted me to the hospital for IV antibiotics. Wednesday we found out that I am allergic to Vancomyacin and the Infectious Diseases Doctor put me on IV Zyvox. The site continued to drain at a very slow pace and by Thursday some of the swelling had gone away. Thursday night my nurse (the genius that he was) nuked 4 washcloths as hot as he could get them and proceeded to wrap them in pillow cases for insulation. I was able to keep this compress on my eye for over an hour, peeling away the layers as they cooled. I could actually feel the infection pulling to the surface as we did this and over the night.
On Friday morning I woke up to a scab on the site that come off with normal washing. When it came off, a black/green core pulled out of it and the drainage almost stopped at that point. I was released from the hospital that following Saturday and was sent home on 7 days worth of the Zyvox, which by the way is horrible and leaves an awful taste in the mouth and comes w/major diet restrictions (heed the diet restriction, eating some of the forbidden food will REALLY give you a headache).
At almost my one month mark from follow up appointment I am still MRSA free. I haven’t had a relapse but found out that my Dr’s are seeing a lot of MRSA cases in spider bites. It is only their belief that they think some types of spiders (those that are necrotic) will pass the staph infection on to its victim.
Hope anyone reading this is checked out if they think they have some sort of spider bite. Fast, aggressive, and good treatment were what saved my eye.
My daughters have both had MRSA a few times. I have, what I would consider to be a very clean house (pinesol & bleach).
What is the gestation period for the MRSA?
For instance, if it ‘lives’ in your blood stream for say 3 years, would that be 3 years from the last attack or first?
What can I do at home to be better?
Kids carry instant hand sanitizers now, but still have gotten them.
They are so painful, it hurts me to see them suffer and cry. I am from Mohave Valley, AZ; where CA, NV, AZ all meet, on the Colorado River. It’s been my understanding that MRSA is near epidemic in the high school here, gym equipment and kids being fearless kids, but what can the schools do to get a handle on this?
Gratefully,
Suzie
I have a bite I didn’t even feel. Only when I caught an itch, that’s when I found it on my stomach. It was a red circle with a very small pus bump in the center of it. I busted it about 3 times from scratching it and the bump came back each time. I treated it with alcohol to help with the itching 3 days ago, now I have whips big and small coming from it and its spreading like a rash. Even when I don’t bother it all day, it severely itches and I worry about MRSA.
About 3 weeks ago it seemed like I had a cold sore starting within a week I had what looked like impetigo on the side of my face down to my chin at this time my daughter had what looked like a spider bite on her leg which in 2 days inflamed 3 times the size she also had what looked like a sty we both went into the Dr at that time they didn’t do much at all we were prescribed Fucidin ointment, Took a swab of my face and sent home.
My daughters leg seemed to heal up nice in a couple days but I did not. About 5 days later I get a call from the Dr office says that they needed to see me. When I went in I was told I have MRSA (which I have never heard of before) I was not prescribed anything eles at the time.
About 3 days later I woke up my nose, throat were just so sore , I was wizzy and It was starting to get hard for me to breathe right I had some uncomfortable sensation under my left breast felt almost like some one was pushing really hard. I went up to the emergency ward in which no tests were taking, I was given APO-SULFATRIM DS ( double dose ) and sent home, So far the sores on my face look like they are healing but my body is achng like crazy and i’m still short of breath at times I can not even walk up my stair without feeling like the wind was knocked out of me.
I am also not to sure what to expect from this.
I’ve recently been diagnosed with MRSA on what i thought was poison ivy on my rear, not the wounds have all healed except for 1 or 2, but i have been having alot of stiffness and sharp pains through my hips and legs making it difficult to walk and move. Can this be due to the MRSA?
I would appreciate any information on this. I keep getting more scared everytime I read more and more, I’m just not sure what to expect.
Hello all. I work at a hospital where I come in contact with MRSA all the time. Indeed it is very contagious and you should make sure not to touch your wound or wounds when you have it. Not only can it be in your wounds but in your Nares and urine too. Most people with good immune systems like my self may carry MRSA but experiance no signs or symtoms. Elderly and children are extreamly vulnarabul to this infection. Its not true that it is not curable I see patients beat it all the time, but remeber once you had MRSA you are more than likely to get it again. The second go round or thrid and so on may be harder to treat because it is a drug resistant infection. Im not a doctor and am not claming to be one. Im just a Nurse.
ive been bitten by what we call a desert recluse it resembles the brown recluse bit or mrsa wound in the same way it was on my leg it ate throw my muscle so deep that if i had waited another day to go in i would of lost my leg . they cleaned the bite and did everything right but i got mrsa from getting the bite it is uncurable so ive heard but there are pill for the red bumps it leaves on your skin and i got both form the spider bite . what they wont tell you is that mrsa was created ina hospital and is immuned to most medications but is easily passed
I would deeply appreciate any feedback on my possible spider bite that I posted earlier!
Thank you,
Denise Arens
The area is getting larger than when i sent the first report of possibly being bitten by a spider. It has doubled in size and is not bothering my lower part of my leg.
Denise Arens
My husband had a bump, what we thought was a heat bump, on the side of his calf. He picked it and the next day went to the doctor saying it hurt so bad and gotten much worse. The doctor said steph infection and started Bactrim antibiotics. It got the size of a golf ball and split the skin before he returned to the doctor to have him lance it. Its been 9 days and still looks bad but better. Still not sure if steph, MRSA or spider bite, culture was done but no results as of yet.
I woke up one morning with what looked like a bite from a spider on my upper back thigh but I don’t have spiders. I went to the doctor that weekend, we figured it was MRSA and got on prednisone and bactrim.
I was scared because later the following week I had to go to the hospital to get it drained and had to stay because my white blood cells were high. I ended up staying five days and was put on zyvox for two weeks.
Weeks later I get Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus again with several different out breaks on my legs. Now I am on zyvox again a month and a half later with now back and chest pain, shortness of breath and it is not my asthma.
I am a 33 year old with five kids 16,13,11,8,3 I hope not to go through this again. GET CHECKED QUICK like I did.
I just wanted to share that I was bitten by a brown and ended up with MRSA. It took nine surgeries and has ruined my life. Please, if are bitten, seek medical attention!
I think I have had MRSA for a month or 2 . I started having shortness of breath and chest pain and assumed it was my asthma.
Last week I woke up with a itchy,red bump on my buttock. It itched and there was a red ring around the area. We have spiders really bad in our house and I assumed one got me while I slept. The next day the whole area was swollen hard and it was very painful. I didnt feel ill at all but I knew something wasn’t right.
The sore got bigger and more red and finally it burst. Today I am worried because it looks like there was a big black hole in my skin. I think I did get bit my a spider and it just gave me MRSA. I was practically forced to go to the ER some of my freinds had the same thing and said it was “just spiders” . I’ve never heard of this and its common so my advice is get it checked out before it leads to something that cannot be fixed.
A year and a half ago I got bit by a spider( we got the spider) my leg had gotten red around the site. The doctor said that if it got any worse to go to the hospital. Two hours later my leg was swollen from my knee to my ankle. I was lanced (cut) open and the bite area was tested and found that the spider had given me MRSA; now I am really afraid of spiders. I also work in the health field and I know not to mess around.
My 17yr old son has what he thinks is a spider bite, he said all his friends have it too. I have searched the web to do some research on staph infections because that what I belive it is. To my surprise they are alot alike, but the treatment for one is opposite the other (besides the meds.)
One says to cut it open and drain it while the other says not to. So what I’m wondering is, if you did not see yourself get bit how does the doctor know which one it is ??????
Hi, I had what you call MRSA. My mom thinks that I had it for a while and we thought that they were just spider bites. But then once I got a big one on the back of my leg and we went to the doctor. It hurt really badly but we finally named him…Guss.
So, if you get something that looks like a spider bite, go to your doctor right away please, it may be Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
I had a bit of some kind on the back of my calf. It is about the size of a quater and has a small pus pimle in the middle. The surrounding area is red and irritated and itches. I busted the pimple and it slowly started to heal leaving a dark area where the lesion was.
In addition I have another similar lesion on the opposite leg and the area became red, irritated and itches. I busted this lesion also and the only signs that remain are a shadow of the irritated area and a small head of a pin size scab in the middle of the lesion.
I want to know if this is a spider bit of some kind. I live in a newly constructed home and see a lot of critters, among them small black and brown spiders.
I personally came face to face with a near deadly MRSA infection… 6 weeks after the birth of my 3rd baby boy. I had a couple of sores on my face that didn’t seem to be getting better for weeks and one in particular on my forehead right at my hairline that caused severe pain in the area along with a really bad headache. The skin in the area eventually turned black. I really didn’t get alarmed because I thought if I cleaned it and went to the doctor for anitbiotics, then I would be fine.
I woke up one morning and didn’t feel well. I had a fever of about 102 and a severe headache. I took some ibuprofen and went about my day. By that evening, my chest had started hurting really badly, and my breathing became very shallow. I layed down for bed, but quickly sat up because I was unable to breathe.
I took my temp. and it was over 104. I told my husband that I needed to go to the ER, but he didn’t think it was that serious at the time. By morning (about 6 am) I could no longer take the pain, so we took our older children to daycare and brought our newborn with us to the hospital. To make a long story shorter, the general procedures and tests were ran, and my ct scan came back showing several lesions and tumors in both of my lungs.
I ended up in that hospital for 2 weeks, went home on home healthcare with a permanent IV feed in my arm to receive Vancomycin antibiotics at home. I became ill again after a week at home and went back into a different hospital.
Turns out I became allergic to the Vancomycin and it was becoming toxic in my blood which is actually what was causing me to become ill again…
Needless to say, MRSA is nothing to mess around with and if you suspect a staph infection of any type, you should seek treatment immediately!!!
You can also get MRSA through a central venous line catheter. Your chances of survival will increase if the hospital uses a CVL with the antiobiodic of minocycline and rifampin.