MRSA -– BEST SOLUTION IS HAND WASHING ?
MRSA -– BEST SOLUTION IS HAND WASHING ?
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
MRSA infections were first noted in the 1960s, in health care facilities. Twenty years later, they started appearing in the general community. Many MRSA infections that start in the community affect people who inject illegal drugs, HOWEVER LESS COMMON IN INDIA IN VIEW OF LESSER DRUG ABUSE. Even house pets and other animals now sometimes carry MRSA and can pass them to humans. Many harbor MRSA on body surfaces and mucosal membranes and health care workers are no expectation, as Staph are normally carried in our nose and on our skin by many healthy adults. Typically, they do not cause disease. But if our skin is broken or opened, as happen with surgical site infections, staph can enter our body and cause infection. Staph infections are often easily treated with antibiotics. However, it is becoming more common to see bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, or hard to kill with them.
The hospital too are loaded with MRSA and much literature says it is not possible to eradicate the MRSA from the environments and our own body surfaces, and nasal carrier stage and its eradication with Mupirocin is controversial. However the patients are at great risk from the environment and health care workers, MRSA infections usually are passed first to your hands. Therefore, the best prevention against MRSA is frequent hand washing and as it happens with many health care workers pass the infections to the patients,
What are the other Risk Factors for a Staph Infection?
Anyone can get a staph infection. Certain risk factors make it more likely, including:
?Living or having close contact with someone who has staph
?Having an open wound or sore
?Playing contact sports or sharing towels or athletic equipment
?A current or recent stay in a hospital or long-term care facility
?A recent operation or wound treatment
?Having a feeding tube or catheter (a tube placed in your body)
?Receiving kidney dialysis
?Having a weakened immune system or serious illness
?Injecting illegal drugs
IF THERE IS AN OUTBREAK IN OUR WARDS- DISCUSS THE MATTERS IN Hospital Infection Control committee Preventing Staph Infections: is easier said than done, so What You Can Do – let us be to the basics frequent hand washing is the best way to avoid most MRSA skin infections if there's an outbreak in our area, In addition to hand washing, that means avoiding the sharing of towels or clothes, JUST USING DISPOSABLE TISSUE TOWELS
To reduce the spread of staph infections, keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered until they heal. Avoid contact with the wounds or bandages of others. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, razors, clothing, and athletic equipment. And be sure to keep your hands clean. Your best option is washing your hands with warm water and soap. If that’s not possible, or if your hands aren’t visibly dirty, use a hand gel that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
Tips for good hand washing:
?Use warm water and plenty of soap. Work up a good lather.
?Clean your whole hand, under your nails, between your fingers, and up your wrists.
?Wash for at least 15 to 30 seconds. Don’t just wipe. Scrub well.
?Rinse, letting the water run down your fingers, not up your wrists.
?Dry your hands well. Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door.
?Using alcohol-based hand gels:
?Use enough gel to get your hands completely wet.
?Rub your hands together briskly. Be sure to clean the backs of your hands, the palms, between your fingers, and up your wrists.
?Rub until the gel is gone and your hands are completely dry.
When visiting a person in a hospital or nursing home, thoroughly wash your hands before and after your visit. Strictly follow any instructions posted outside the room.
What about family and visitors?
Family and friends can visit but they will be told to wash their hands or use an alcohol-based hand rub (sanitizer) before leaving the room. Visitors may still have close contact such as hugging, kissing and handholding. Family members rarely get MRSA. If they do, it does not usually cause a problem. Patients/residents with MRSA do not pose a risk to their families or to other healthy people.
How can you decolonize from MRSA? Current conventional MRSA decolonization strategies include using the antibiotic cream mupirocin and swabbing inside the nose with it. Antibacterial body washing using chlorhexidine soap is also recommended and sometimes oral antibiotics are used. A study published in the Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Journal concluded a successful decolonization protocol using a treatment consisting of: mupirocin nasal antibiotic, chlorhexidine mouthwash and a daily body wash using chlorhexidine soap. Intestinal, urinary and vaginal colonization, if present, was also treated at the same time and oral antibiotics were added if this treatment regimen failed, The matters related to using Antibiotics remain with experience clinicians
A holistic approach to protecting against infections
The best way to guard against infection is to use a multi-front approach. While good hand and body hygiene, using treatments that work, and cleaning your home are all important, those who make their body naturally resistant to infections see the best results
INSPITE OF MANY ADVANCES THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS THAN HAND WASHING IN PREVENTION OF RESISTANT STRAINS IN HOSPITALS
SO LET US COME TO BASICS HAND WASHING IS THE EASIER SOLUTION IN PREVENTION OF INFECTION, AND ANTIBIOTICS AND CHEMICALS CAN SLIP OF OUR HANDS SOONER THAN LATER
Ref MRSA Carrier: Questions and Answers >Author Michelle Moore Staph infection resources,
Dr.T.V.Rao MD Professor of Microbiology Freelance Medical Reporter