Another Staph Question - Sorry!!

The dr is right if the boil has dried up then there is not anything to sent to the lab...But on the upside ( this is just my opinion and I have never had any of the 6 in my family that carries staph have MRSA) But if it was MRSA the meds would not have cleared it up that easly. MRSA is highly resistant to meds and it would have taken alot more meds then it sounds like she has taken. I hope this helps, like I said before have her use the hibiclen and you could even buy some for your children to use after she leaves her house if that makes you sleep better at night. Although that is not needed. Hope this helps.

If it got better doesn't that mean the infection responded to the antibiotic she was given? Was it a regular antibiotic? My friend's daughter had MRSA and it was resistant to regular antibiotics. Not all staph infections are MRSA -- just the antibiotic resistant kind. That's why it's so dangerous. It's hard to treat. Hopefully a medical professional can explain this better, but that's how I understand it.

If it responded to the antibiotic it was straight staph not Mrsa my son gets staph and it continues to respond to antibiotics just watch she will be more suseptable to future outbreaks. She should go in and have it cultured before she is on any meds. Good Luck

Hi~
I agree with everyone too. If you still feel nervous, you may want to consider calling one of the major hospitals in your area and talk to the infection control department.

Here is a link to one of the hospitals in LA --http://www.goodsam.org/support/infection_control.php

They state if you would like to talk to someone from Infection Control to call ###-###-####. They should be able to answer questions for you and put your mind at ease.

The other responses are right-on. MRSA is Methicillin Resistant Staph. aureus. That is a specific strain of Staph. that is resistant to many antibiotics. If the wound cleared up that fast, from cleaning & antibiotics, it wasn't MRSA. There are many other strains of Staph. aureus (that also cause boils, impetigo, and other wounds), not just the Methicillin resistant kind. This article has an excellent description: http://www.medicinenet.com/staph_infection/article.htm
As long as your M. washes her hands regularly (especially after touching her wound) and your kids aren't poking at it, it's not likely that they would "catch" whatever infection she has/had.