The ugly truth about life with a 'superbug'

[cHeroKee]

The ugly truth about life with a 'superbug'
Story Highlights
Woman has battled potentially deadly MRSA "superbug" infection six times
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus outwits most antibiotics
Specialist sought reason for woman's recurrent infectionshttp://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/global/1x1pixel.gif
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By Jilly Jackson* as told to Maryn Mckenna

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When I heard that high schools were closing and teenagers were dying because of the MRSA superbug, I felt lucky. Since the middle of 2006, I've had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus six times and somehow managed to avoid the worst: I've never been hospitalized and don't fear for my life. But, please, take my advice and do everything you can to avoid this dangerous infection.


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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,
known as MRSA or the staph "superbug,"
can be fatal.
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My first episode was in July 2006. I live in Boston and was going to visit a friend on Nantucket. I leaned back in my seat on the plane and felt a dull pain, like someone was pressing really hard on my buttock. When I arrived I asked my friend to take a look. That sounds embarrassing, but I couldn't see the problem myself. She said it was just a pimple but really red. By the third day the irritated area was more than three inches wide and burning sharply. I was nervous, so I left the island early and went to my doctor.

He gave me an antibiotic called Keflex for a skin infection, but the pimple just got bigger, hotter, harder, and redder. Sitting was almost impossible. And soon it wasn't just my buttock that ached. I had developed a second spot -- on my labia! Health.com: What are my real risks for MRSA? (http://www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1714865,00.html)

What is it?
I still didn't know I had MRSA. Truth is, I hardly knew anything about MRSA. But I wasn't getting better, so while I was at my weekend house in Connecticut, I decided to go to the emergency room. The doctors there gave me a local anesthetic, then cut open and cleaned out the spot on my buttock. The abscess underneath was big enough that they had to pack it with absorbent material to soak up pus. When they cultured the infection, I finally learned it was MRSA. The doctors changed my antibiotic to Augmentin, because the first one wouldn't work against the resistant bug. But they didn't want to touch the spot on my labia.
I'd have to go to a gynecologist for that.

When I returned to Boston, I went back to my doctor's office to get the packing changed, but the doc wouldn't do it because they didn't have the necessary surgical tools. I had to go to the emergency room. I went over to the ER in the same hospital complex; they agreed to change the packing, but didn't want to touch the spot on my labia. Again they said I needed a gyno. Argh! Five doc-tor's visits for this one infection, and the thing was getting worse. I was losing it. Health.com: Don't worry so much about scary diseases (http://www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1623415,00.html)

I walked into the medical building next door and found an OB-GYN's office. They agreed to take a look. The doctor pinpricked the swollen area, got a little pus out, and sent it to be cultured. It was MRSA. Again.
Both spots healed up, and for three weeks I was fine. But then two months later, in September, it happened again: hot, red spots on my perineum and labia. I was really frustrated. I couldn't believe it had come back. Before long I was back at the ER for another draining and culture. More MRSA. More antibiotics, this time something called Bactrim. Health.com: How not to catch MRSA (http://www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1714836,00.html)

Is it my fault?
Eventually, I saw an infectious-disease specialist, who did all kinds of tests (including diabetes and HIV) to figure out whether I had a condition that would make me vulnerable. Everything came up negative. I wasn't surprised. I used to be a professional dancer, and I've always been very healthy. The tests, though, made me feel even more nervous and unsure of myself.

Health Library
MayoClinic.com: MRSA (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735)The specialist couldn't explain why the outbreaks kept coming back, but the fact that they popped up where I sweat was a clue. I work out at the gym three times a week and also run. I'd come straight from the gym and start working in the garden, changing clothes first but waiting until I was back inside to shower. Bad idea. The specialist told me to shower and change clothes right away so that bacteria wouldn't have a chance to breed, and to wash my workout clothes every day. She also had me try "decolonization" -- a real hassle. For five days, I showered with an antibacterial soap called Hibiclens (my husband, too), and for two weeks I put an ointment called Bactroban up my nose (because staph can live there) and on my perineum. I also washed all our sheets and towels every day, in hot water with bleach. Later, I saw a dermatologist who recommended I switch from spandex to loose cotton just in case the tight outfits were rubbing against my skin and leaving tiny abrasions. Health.com: What a MRSA infection looks like (http://www.health.com/health/slideshow/0,26086,1714896,00.html)

What more can I do?
I wish I could say that was enough to solve the problem. But last winter the infection came back -- again! --this time under my arm and on my breast. My belly was next, in June, and again in September. Most of these spots, like the others, needed to be drained, packed, and treated with Bactrim.
Had I done something wrong? My friends kept telling me to change doctors, but the docs say the same things: "We're seeing this a lot, and we don't know why it's back." Truth is, I feel I was doing everything right. I'm obsessive now about following the specialists' advice. I'm moisturizing in hopes of avoiding cracks in my skin that might be a breeding ground. I wash my hands all the time. I use my wrists and the backs of my hands to open doors in public restrooms.



http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/02/22/healthmag.MRSA/index.html

[kamoil]

Here is some information on MRSA and some Essential Oils to combat it,
Kam:)


What is MRSA
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria - often called "staph." Decades ago, a strain of staph emerged in hospitals that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it.

Dubbed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the first germs to outwit all but the most powerful drugs. MRSA infection can be fatal.

Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects, however, they can pass the germ to others.

Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. But in older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems, ordinary staph infections can cause serious illness called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.

In the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the wider community. Today, that form of staph, known as community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for many serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia.

Vancomycin is one of the few antibiotics still effective against hospital strains of MRSA infection, although the drug is no longer effective in every case. Several drugs continue to work against CA-MRSA, but CA-MRSA is a rapidly evolving bacterium, and it may be a matter of time before it, too, becomes resistant to most antibiotics.

Signs & Symptoms

~Staph infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.

~Although the survival tactics of bacteria contribute to antibiotic resistance, humans bear most of the responsibility for the problem.

Leading causes of antibiotic resistance include:

Unnecessary antibiotic use in humans. Like other superbugs, MRSA is the result of decades of excessive and unnecessary antibiotic use. For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu and other viral infections that don't respond to these drugs, as well as for simple bacterial infections that normally clear on their own.
Antibiotics in food and water. Prescription drugs aren't the only source of antibiotics. In the United States, antibiotics can be found in beef cattle, pigs and chickens. The same antibiotics then find their way into municipal water systems when the runoff from feedlots contaminates streams and groundwater. Routine feeding of antibiotics to animals is banned in the European Union and many other industrialized countries. Antibiotics given in the proper doses to animals who are sick don't appear to produce resistant bacteria.
Germ mutation. Even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they contribute to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria because they don't destroy every germ they target. Bacteria live on an evolutionary fast track, so germs that survive treatment with one antibiotic soon learn to resist others. And because bacteria mutate much more quickly than new drugs can be produced, some germs end up resistant to just about everything. That's why only a handful of drugs are now effective against most forms of staph.Risk factors
Because hospital and community strains of MRSA generally occur in different settings, the risk factors for the two strains differ.
Risk factors for hospital-acquired (HA) MRSA include:

A current or recent hospitalization. MRSA remains a concern in hospitals, where it can attack those most vulnerable - older adults and people with weakened immune systems, burns, surgical wounds or serious underlying health problems. A 2007 report from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology estimates that 1.2 million hospital patients are infected with MRSA each year in the United States. They also estimate another 423,000 are colonized with it.
Residing in a long-term care facility. MRSA is far more prevalent in these facilities than it is in hospitals. Carriers of MRSA have the ability to spread it, even if they're not sick themselves.
Invasive devices. People who are on dialysis, are catheterized, or have feeding tubes or other invasive devices are at higher risk.
Recent antibiotic use. Treatment with fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin or levofloxacin) or cephalosporin antibiotics can increase the risk of HA-MRSA.These are the main risk factors for community-acquired (CA) MRSA:

Young age. CA-MRSA can be particularly dangerous in children. Often entering the body through a cut or scrape, MRSA can quickly cause a wide spread infection. Children may be susceptible because their immune systems aren't fully developed or they don't yet have antibodies to common germs. Children and young adults are also much more likely to develop dangerous forms of pneumonia than older people are.
Participating in contact sports. CA-MRSA has crept into both amateur and professional sports teams. The bacteria spread easily through cuts and abrasions and skin-to-skin contact.
Sharing towels or athletic equipment. Although few outbreaks have been reported in public gyms, CA-MRSA has spread among athletes sharing razors, towels, uniforms or equipment.
Having a weakened immune system. People with weakened immune systems, including those living with HIV/AIDS, are more likely to have severe CA-MRSA infections.
Living in crowded or unsanitary conditions. Outbreaks of CA-MRSA have occurred in military training camps and in American and European prisons.
Association with health care workers. People who are in close contact with health care workers are at increased risk of serious staph infections.When To Seek Medical Advice:

Keep an eye on minor skin problems - pimples, insect bites, cuts and scrapes - especially in children. If wounds become infected, see your doctor. Ask to have any skin infection tested for MRSA before starting antibiotic therapy. Drugs that treat ordinary staph aren't effective against MRSA, and their use could lead to serious illness and more resistant bacteria.

Screening & Diagnosis
Doctors diagnose MRSA by checking a tissue sample or nasal secretions for signs of drug-resistant bacteria. The sample is sent to a lab where it's placed in a dish of nutrients that encourage bacterial growth (culture). But because it takes about 48 hours for the bacteria to grow, newer tests that can detect staph DNA in a matter of hours are now becoming more widely available.
In the hospital, you may be tested for MRSA if you show signs of infection or if you are transferred into a hospital from another healthcare setting where MRSA is known to be present. You may also be tested if you have had a previous history of MRSA.

Prevention
Hospitals are fighting back against MRSA infection by using surveillance systems that track bacterial outbreaks and by investing in products such as antibiotic-coated catheters and gloves that release disinfectants.
Still, the best way to prevent the spread of germs is for health care workers to wash their hands frequently, to properly disinfect hospital surfaces and to take other precautions such as wearing a mask when working with people with weakened immune systems.
In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA are placed in isolation to prevent the spread of MRSA to other patients and healthcare workers.Visitors and healthcare workers caring for isolated patients may be required to wear protective garments and must follow strict handwashing procedures.
What you can doHere's what you can do to protect yourself, family members or friends from hospital-acquired infections.

Ask all hospital staff to wash their hands before touching you - every time.
Wash your own hands frequently.
Ask to be bathed with disposable cloths treated with a disinfectant rather than with soap and water.
Make sure that intravenous tubes and catheters are inserted and removed under sterile conditions; some hospitals have dramatically reduced MRSA blood infections simply by sterilizing patients' skin before using catheters.Protecting yourself from CA-MRSA - which might be just about anywhere - may seem daunting, but these common-sense precautions can help reduce your risk:

Keep personal items personal. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment. MRSA spreads on contaminated objects as well as through direct contact.
Keep wounds covered. Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with sterile, dry bandages until they heal. The pus from infected sores often contains MRSA, and keeping wounds covered will help keep the bacteria from spreading.
Sanitize linens. If you have a cut or sore, wash towels and bed linens in hot water with added bleach and dry them in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each wearing.
Wash your hands. In or out of the hospital, careful hand washing remains your best defense against germs. Scrub hands briskly for at least 15 seconds, then dry them with a disposable towel and use another towel to turn off the faucet. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer containing at least 62 percent alcohol for times when you don't have access to soap and water.
Get tested. If you have a skin infection that requires treatment, ask your doctor if you should be tested for MRSA. Many doctors prescribe drugs that aren't effective against antibiotic-resistant staph, which delays treatment and creates more resistant germs.Treatment
Both hospital and community associated strains of MRSA still respond to certain medications. In hospitals and care facilities, doctors generally rely on the antibiotic vancomycin to treat resistant germs. CA-MRSA may be treated with vancomycin or other antibiotics that have proved effective against particular strains. Although vancomycin saves lives, it may grow resistant as well; some hospitals are already seeing outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant MRSA. To help reduce that threat, doctors may drain an abscess caused by MRSA rather than treat the infection with drugs.

Aromatherapy Treatment

Anti-microbial: Tea Tree Oil
Caelli, M., Porteous, J., Carlson, C. F., Heller, R., & Riley, T. V. (2001). Tea tree oil as an alternative topical decolonization agent for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. The International Journal of Aromatherapy 11(2). [Originally published in The Journal of Hospital Infection (2000), 46, 236-237.]

In this pilot study, 30 adult patients infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were randomly assigned to receive a 4% tea tree oil nasal ointment and 5% tea tree oil body wash and a standard 2% mupirocin nasal ointment and the triclosan body wash.

Tea tree oil products were found to perform better than mupirocin and triclosan, although the number of patients was too small for the difference to be statistically significant.

The single case clinical report described the use of a polytoxinol (PT) antimicrobial, a complex mixture whose major components are tea tree oil and eucalyptus to cure an intractable methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection of the lower tibia in an adult male. The study introduced a cheap, simple technique as a possible alternative to long-term systemic antibiotic therapy when administered percutaneously. Sherry, E., Warnke, P. H. (2001). Percutaneous treatment of chronic MRSA osteomyelitis with a novel plant-derived antiseptic. BMC Surgery 1(1).

Suggested Therapy, using Essential Oils:

Mix the following essential oils together;
Lavender 25 drops
Tea Tree 20 drops
Rosemary 20 drops
Sandalwood 10 drops

-Apply to affected area (if too hot, add carrier).
-Put in shampoo.
-Put in lotion (balance).
-Apply topically and then cover with bandage.
-10 drops in warm water to wash with.
-Diffuse.

~Lick trick with Spice of Life(ForeverYoung EO)or Spice Traders(Native Health EO) 3x a day.
~Internal Use- Add 3 drops of each, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary and carrier oil. Take one capsule at each meal, 3x a day.

[Toni]

It sounds like she needs to do a major cleanse, instead of taking drugs to combat a disease. It sounds like her body is trying to expel toxins and it should be helped to expel them. Labels sound nice, I suppose, but the result seems to be that people/problems are put into neat little boxes and often the mentality accompanying labels reduces hope. Just my experience. (Also, cleanses are probably cheaper than all those visits and tests).

[phylm]

Have you checked out colloidal silver? Just a thought.

[Earthling]

My cousin got this several months ago. She goes to the gym a lot so was careful to clean the equipment she used. After a lot of people got sick after using that gym they did a lot of testing to find the source. It was the mats they used to exercise on - they were crawling with it. Anyway, food for thought if you go to a gym.