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StaphAseptic™ News
Knowing symptoms of MRSA infection can be key in treating superbug
December 3, 2009
St. Petersburg Times
By Irene Maher, Times Staff Writer
Years ago, the superbug MRSA was found only in hospitals and other health care facilities, where it preyed on the old and the sick. And still, that's where it is deadliest, responsible for more than 70 percent of all hospital staph infections and killing some 20,000 Americans annually.
MRSA started turning up outside hospitals in the late 1990s in schools, gyms and military barracks, evolving into community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. Now a new study published this month says that strain is bouncing back into hospitals, increasing the infection risk to the most vulnerable people.
But as 18-year-old Jordan Fry knows, this is a bug that is dangerous even if you're a healthy young athlete.
In fact, the college student from Valrico learned all about it as a high school football player, from a coach who preached prevention measures to his team.
So in August, when a week of worsening leg pain sent him to the hospital, Fry wasn't surprised to learn it was MRSA.
Others, however, could easily have missed the signs.
"You couldn't see anything on my skin at first. It just felt like a bruise," he said, "Then it turned red and swollen and warm to the touch. I knew. I had all the signs."
This is only a portion of the original article. To read the entire article visit tampabay.com
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