How Would You Get Contagious Of MSR Infection?

• What is MRS?

MRS stands for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus. This is an infectious bacteria that kills up to 19,000 people every year in the US alone. It has such a high rate of deaths because the bacteria is immune to the antibiotic usually used to treat infections.

The parts of the bacteria that are immune to medical treatment are then transferred onto other types of bacteria and this is why MRS often becomes known as a 'superbug' because many other types of bacteria, which could previously been easily treated, are now lethal to the person who is infected with the MRS infection.

• How it is spread

As soon as someone is diagnosed with MRS they are placed in quarantine because the bacteria can spread quickly from person to person. Not only can the bacteria spread from the infected person but it can also spread when a person touches an object that the bacteria have touched. This could be anything from a door handle to the floor or a towel.

A person will not normally become infected if the bacteria touches a healthy part of their skin. Our skin is resilient and protects us from all sorts of bacteria.

But if a person has a cut, a graze, a sore or any other kind of wound, the bacteria will enter through this. You may then think that the bacteria would be difficult to catch in this way but we have a surprising amount of wounds we barely notice. Small cuts and scratches often go unnoticed and forgotten soon after the wound has been inflicted and these are often the places that bacteria enter the body.

• Who is most at risk

People with low immune systems such as children and the elderly are more susceptible to the bacteria as are people in hospitals, particularly people who have had surgery.

Anyone with burns, cuts, wounds, ulcers, grazes and rashes should be particularly careful when they enter a hospital and particularly sick people may even wear face masks.