We are a member of the Fund Raising Standards Board

We are all volunteers and the advice we receive is also given freely.

All donations are used to further the work we do.

Please Donate

Join Us

Provide Support

Buy At

UK Charity

No 1131517

Copyright © Proventus 2010

Terms & Conditions

Help-Line 01233 334879

Proventus

Making Life Fairer

Working Together to Make a Difference

UK Charity No 1131517

Working together to make a difference

Find Us Here

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - MRSA                                                                                                                         

Staphylococcus aureus - discovered in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1880 by the surgeon Sir Alexander Ogston in pus from surgical abscesses. PubMed

Staphylococcus aureus is a very common type of bacterium which lives on the skin. Often found in parts of the body such as the nose, the armpits and between the buttocks. Generally this bacterium creates no problem to the person it is living on and may protect the body in some way against more serious bacteria. However, Staphylococcus can cause minor infections such as boils and abscesses or, in people with poor immunity, can cause more serious life-threatening infections.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium responsible for difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It may also be referred to as multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA).

MRSA is by definition a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to a large group of antibiotics known as the beta-lactams, which include the penicillins and the cephalosporins.

The organism is often sub-categorized as:

• Community-Acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA).
• Health Care-Associated MRSA (HA-MRSA).

Some have defined CA-MRSA by criteria related to patients suffering from an MRSA infection while others have defined CA-MRSA by genetic characteristics of the bacteria themselves.

CA-MRSA strains were first reported in the late 1990's; these cases were defined by a lack of exposure to the health care setting. In the next several years, it became clear that CA-MRSA infections were caused by strains of MRSA that differed from the older and better studied healthcare-associated strains.[1] The new CA-MRSA strains have rapidly become the most common cause of cultured skin infections among individuals seeking emergency medical care for these infections in urban areas of the United States. These strains also commonly cause skin infections in athletes, jail and prison detainees, and soldiers.

MRSA is a resistant variation of the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. It has evolved an ability to survive treatment with beta-lactam antibiotics, including Methicillin, Dicloxacillin, Nafcillin, and Oxacillin. MRSA is especially troublesome in hospital-associated (nosocomial) infections.

1. Ogston A (1984). "“On Abscesses”. Classics in Infectious Diseases". Rev Infect Dis 6 (1): 122–28
2. Methicillin is a powerful type of penicillin which is generally only used for bacteria which are resistant to less powerful antibiotics.
3. Oxacillin is a penicillin antibiotic. It works by blocking the growth of the bacteria's cell wall, resulting in the death of the bacteria.
4. Nosocomial infections are infections which are a result of treatment in a hospital or a healthcare service unit, but secondary to the patient's original condition. Infections are considered nosocomial if they first appear 48 hours or more after hospital admission or within 30 days after discharge.

Nosocomial - from the Greek word nosokomeion meaning hospital (nosos = disease, komeo = to take care of).

Other Web Sites                                                                                                                                                              

OSCN - Oxythiocyanate

Top of Page