Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as MRSA or superbug, is a type of bacterial infection resistant to antibiotics.  You must be aware of all the mrsa precautions as the infection is resistant to amoxicillin, methicillin, oxacillin and penicillin antibiotics making it a challenge to treat. It starts off as a sore, pimple, boil or skin rash and escalates to potentially dangerous and sometimes fatal levels.

MRSA is a common bacterial infection affecting 2 people out of 100 with 1 out of three people being at a risk of infection. The infection does not cause serious problems but can be very problematic when mrsa precautions are not taken seriously. The community may confuse MRSA with common skin problems and even some people try treating the infection at home. However, people should watch out for the signs of MRSA and inform the community to avoid spread. Signs include boils, impetigo, pimples, wound infections and abscesses.

Why Inform The Community you Have MRSA?

MRSA is highly contagious

It is important to let those around you and those you associate with daily know that you have MRSA. First off, it is highly contagious, without implementing the correct mrsa precautions. Like any other skin disease, MRSA is spread through contact. Touching the infected individual’s skin, clothes, wounds and personal effects will lead to outright infection. To this end, the community needs to avoid coming into contact with the individual’s skin, personal effects or share sharp objects with them. But this is not possible without the individual informing the community of their health status.

Protect a wide population which is at risk

As mentioned earlier, 2 percent of the world population carries MRSA though not active in some cases. However, the infection can attack anyone, mostly those with weak immune systems, those in hospitals and health care centers, people with surgical woods and people with invasive devices like feeding tubes or catheters among others. You cannot risk having such a high number of individuals infected and thus the need to inform the community to take mrsa precautions.

Get help from the community and create awareness

You may feel stigmatized when the community avoids you based on the condition of your skin. The infection may be confused for another disease. It is only through informing the community that you will get people to understand you and even offer a helping hand. You will also help the community detect MRSA in the event that it infects one of them and you can also educate them on mrsa precautions and preventions. It can be detected through watching signs or by use of MRSA detection software. Like in many diseases, the community needs awareness to avoid creating havoc when a member gets infected.

There is a great YouTube video about this topic that can be found here.