Q: What is MRSA?
A: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, usually called MRSA, are strains of staph bacteria that have become resistant to certain antibiotics.
Q: What is community-associated MRSA?
A: These are infections in people who haven't been recently hospitalized or undergone a medical procedure. Unlike health-care-associated MRSA, the majority of community MRSA infections are not serious. They usually involve treatable skin infections. In rare cases, these infections can become deadly.
Q: How is it spread?
A: Skin-to-skin contact is the main way MRSA is spread. In the community, sharing towels, razors, clothing and other intimate items also is a culprit. Outbreaks of community-associated MRSA have occurred in military training camps, prisons and in other places with crowded living conditions. In MRSA outbreaks investigated by the CDC, environmental surfaces have not played a significant role in the transmission.
Q: How is it treated?
A: In most cases, treatment for community MRSA involves a doctor draining the boil or prescribing antibiotics. For people who have recurring boils, doctors may try to "decolonize" them with medicated body washes and ointments swabbed inside the nose.
Q: How are infections prevented?
A: With good hygiene. Wash hands regularly. Keep cuts and scrapes covered until healed --- and avoid contact with other people's wounds and bandages. Don't share personal items that contact the skin, such as towels, razors or uniforms.
Sources: CDC, AJC research
> ON THE WEB: For information about MRSA: health.state.ga.us/mrsa or www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_ca.html
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution