MRSA Staph Bacterial Infection

I feel a bit like Chicken Little-Revere, shouting "the Staph/MRSA is coming!" But I really don't think that enough about this is being told. Do you even know what I'm talking about when I say Staph and MRSA?

Why is that? Mainstream media doesn't talk about it much because it isn't "fun" news - (but they would talk about it a lot if alcohol based hand gel was an expensive product advertised on their channel!)

No, a bacterial infection that is resistant to almost all our present-day antibiotics is scary. We don't really want to hear about it, do we? It used to be that this was mainly a problem for older people, sick people, or anyone with a weak immune system. But there have been cases of perfectly healthy middle school aged children who are fine one day and the next day they're on life support. One boy finally beat the infection, after a hospital stay and several antibiotics given intravenously. He has permanently lost all hearing in one ear, but he survived.

You can read more about MRSA/Staph from this earlier blog post I did: LINK

Also check out the Centers for Disease Control's website for MRSA in the Workplace
Scroll down for pictures.

The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology has a great infectious disease map that really deserves your attention. It is here: Health Map - Global Disease Map

On the left, under Alerts by Country, select United States. Above that, you will see a list of the outbreaks/diseases. They are automatically all selected, but go to the top of the box and select None. Then go back down the list and select MRSA and Staph. The map will pinpoint areas in the country where problems are occurring. When you click on those 'pins,' you will see links to news stories. Check a few of those out.

What can we do today? I think a very simple first step we can all do is to buy bottles of alcohol gel hand cleaner. Get a few for your house (keep out of reach of young children) and get a few to take into your child's school or daycare. They will really appreciate having this, and it is one simple way of keeping infectious problems at bay. You can get the Kroger hand gel for only about $1 each bottle. Also check the earlier post about MRSA and Staph that I wrote for tips from the CDC on reducing your risk.