What is MRSA? | Staphylococcal infection

What is MRSA?

MRSA originally stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and refers to bacteria of the species Staphylococcus aureus, which have developed a variety of resistances to methicillin and later other antibiotics. Nowadays, the term MRSA is usually translated as multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is not correct, but is frequently used because these strains of bacteria have developed a variety of resistances to antibiotics. MRSA is described as a typical hospital germ, since it occurs in large numbers and is responsible for a large number of hospital infections, even with fatal consequences.

On the one hand, the germ occurs on many surfaces that are not properly cleaned.On the other hand, however, the germ also colonizes a large number of patients and hospital staff, who may also be a potential source of infection. Since MRSA infection poses a high health risk, risk groups are screened before hospitalization and infected patients are isolated in hospital. Therapy for MRSA infection is carried out with special antibiotics such as vancomycin or linezolid. Disinfecting whole-body baths are recommended for the sanitation of MRSA carriers who are not ill. Would you like to learn more about MRSA?

Therapy of a staphylococcal infection

A staphylococcal infection is not necessarily treated on suspicion and after detection. Since some staphylococcal species belong to the normal skin flora, further differentiation is necessary. Even the species Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause considerable damage in the body, is not necessarily treated if detected on the skin.

However, if the detection is carried out in a blood culture or if symptoms are compatible with a staphylococcal infection, antibiotic therapy is used. For this purpose, depending on the species and the resistance of the bacteria to some antibiotics, different active substances are used. As gram-positive bacteria, staphylococci are generally sensitive to beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin.

Because of resistances or allergies however frequently also to other antibiotics such as Clindamycin, Erythromycin or Rifampicin one falls back. A special case is the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), where vancomycin or teicoplanin is used as a reserve antibiotic.