Mrsa - Grapevine,TX

Hi D., I tried not to be too long winded on this one, but I have had some experience with MRSA. My son first got it when he was 8 mos. old. We treated with prescribed antibiotics from ped. Second time he got it, it got so bad we were put into the hospital for 3 days to be on vancomycin, and they ultimatley lanced it the last day we were in. We then had to do a week's worth of dr.'s appts, to have the incision packed to basically absorb out anymore infection. (it was on his butt to boot it all). I think the 3rd or 4th time he got it, we did prescribed antibiotics by the ped., then he got pneumonia with it. Which I read that MRSA could lead to pneumonia among other things. I think he has had it at least 8 times since he was 8 mos. old. There for a while it seemed like every time I turned around he got it. My whole family did the treatment of swabbing antibiotics in your nose. We went as far as to have my parents whom my son sees once a month, to do the swab. Just to make sure none of us were carriers and passing it onto him.
Words of advice...when he has an outbreak obviously do the treatment the dr. is prescribing. Another thing I did with my son was a bleach bath. Wasn't easy, but I put I think a capful of bleach in his bath water and washed him with it quickly to avoid it getting into his eyes and mouth. It's basically like swimming in a chlorinated pool.
Just tell her to make sure to take care of the boils when he does get them, and hopefully he'll grow out of it. I can't remember the last one my son had, so I'm hoping that if he does get them they won't be as bad or as many.
Tell her Good Luck.

MRSA does NOT come from bug bites. It does look like a bug bite when it first appears.

MRSA is a staph infection which anyone can get, almost anywhere, but it must enter through a scratch or open sore/wound. At two he's probably very active and he may have scratches and bug bites that the staph "gets into" so she needs to be very diligent about cleaning off and keeping clean any scratches and bites before they turn into MRSA. I'd start by cleaning the house thoroughly and if he goes to daycare, taking him out or making sure they've sanitized the place.

A friend had it herself, and our high-school had it with like 11 kids getting it last year. It's very hard to keep it away, but meds and a sanitized building will help.

Check out the CDC site for more info....
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_ca.html

And The Mayo Clinic site for prevention tips...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735/DSECTION=pr...

Hi D., the last post was right on! most people think it is a bugbite that caused it but staph can set into any bite, scratch, pimple , even ingrown hair. It's just that in the very beginning it looks like a spider bite. Once you have staph,your body never truely gets rid of it and you are a carrier. That's why your chances are so much greater to keep having it again and again. We have been though this for a few years now with my son and now my step daughter.With 4 kids, I've always made then re-use their bath towels 3-4 times. Well, that's a no-no for them.(and alot of laundry 4 me). We try and keep thing washed frequently, like their sheets, blankets and towels & washcloths in hot water.ALWAYS keep clothing over the infected area or a bandage if it's somewhere you don't wear clothes because it is HIGHLY contagious!.Have him wash his hands alot and put a roll of paper towels in the bathroom for him to dry hand on instead of the community towel! I started my son last year on a bottle of the Danactive drinkable yogurt because I was at a loss with what to do for him and figured it couldn't hurt.After having that every morning I forgot to buy some one week so he didn't have it for a few days... ... Guess what happen! He got an infection! I thought it was a fluke. He had just got a new Dr. and before I said anythng about the Danactive, he told me it WORKS so give him 1 every day! Also, staph is airborne. It enters the body through the nose so the ointment they give you for the infection(bactriban or mupirocin in our case), put a dab on a clean finger every morning and rub it inside each nostril. That helps to trap it before it enters the body!.Sorry this is so long but we sure do have experience with this one and after doing this stuff; we have been staph free for about8 months now! Yeah! It's a scary thing for your kids to have! Good luck to your friend!

D.,
my oldest son who is 22 yrs old has been diagnosed with mrsa also- we found out when we went to florida last year as he had got bitten by a spider which made his arm swoll up so bad he flew back to and had it lacerated and packed 3 times before it got better- since then he has had it 2 more times due to bug bites he received- but as you know it comes from the mucas it the nasal area when they touch there knows then they spread it to that bite when they itch it-my advise is good handwashing-use bug spray when he is outside and my son uses a precsription body wash which washes all the bacteria off of his body to prevent the infections- hope this helps
kmorris

I have no advice for you but can relate, sort of. My neice was diagnosed last year but they didn't catch it soon enough (thought it was everything from the flu to meningitis at it's worse stages) and she was VERY close to death. She was life-flighted from my hometown to Temple and was in ICU for WEEKS so her little body could recover. She was five at the time. She's now a semi-active six year old but will never be the same as it had effects on her personality from being comatose. Please be as aware as you can because my sister had NO idea that this devastating infection was ravaging her daughter's body.

I am shocked he is still going to daycare. The daycare should at the very least notify all other children's parents that one of them has MARS.

It is very serious (treatable) but not to be taken lightly. Our country is the only industrialized nation that doesn't quarantine MRSA.

My father died of MRSA, he got it from a dirty needle while being given fluids in a hospital.