Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates by multilocus sequence typing in northwestern (Tabriz) and southern (Kerman) Iran: emergence of MRSA ST4848-SCCmec III (2023)

FAQs

What does it mean to be mecA positive? ›

mecA is a gene found in bacterial cells which allows them to be resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin and other penicillin-like antibiotics. The bacteria strain most commonly known to carry mecA is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

MRSA is resistant to all β-lactams because of the presence of mecA, a gene that produces a pencillin binding protein (PBP2a) with low affinity for β-lactam antibiotics.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important causes of hospital infections worldwide. High-level resistance to methicillin is caused by the mecA gene, which encodes an alternative penicillin-binding protein, PBP 2a.

To limit the spread of MRSA, early detection and proper treatment are essential. Because conventional culture as gold standard is time consuming, new techniques such as PCR-based and hybridization assays have emerged for the rapid detection of MRSA.

If your MRSA test is positive, you are considered "colonized" with MRSA. Being colonized simply means that at the moment your nose was swabbed, MRSA was present. If the test is negative, it means you aren't colonized with MRSA.

People carrying MRSA harmlessly on their skin or in their nose show no signs or symptoms and it is impossible tell if a person has MRSA by looking at them. If infection is suspected then a doctor will take a swab or specimen of the pus or wound discharge and send it to a laboratory for testing.

MRSA most commonly causes relatively mild skin infections that are easily treated. However, if MRSA gets into your bloodstream, it can cause infections in other organs like your heart, which is called endocarditis. It can also cause sepsis, which is the body's overwhelming response to infection.

The only way to know for sure if you have a MRSA or staph infection is to see a provider. A cotton swab is used to collect a sample from an open skin rash or skin sore. Or, a sample of blood, urine, sputum, or pus from an abscess may be collected.

In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA often are placed in isolation as a measure to prevent the spread of MRSA . Visitors and health care workers caring for people in isolation may need to wear protective garments. They also must follow strict hand hygiene procedures.

Genetics changes in MRSA

They chose the USA300 strain, one of two strains that cause the majority of CA-MRSA cases, because it has emerged as the predominant strain causing skin infections, as well as more serious infections, in both pediatric and adult patients in many states.

How do you treat MRSA infection? ›

Few antibiotics are available to treat more serious MRSA infections. These include vancomycin (Vancocin, Vancoled), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Bactrim DS, Septra, Septra DS) and linezolid (Zyvox).

Genetic studies for MRSA identified structural genes responsible for methicillin resistance and it is known as mecA genes, also referred to as the staphylococcal chromosomal cassette gene SCCmec. There are three common types of SCCmecA, type I (34 kb), type II (52 kb), and type III (66 kb).

The PCR assay is considered to be the gold standard for the detection of MRSA.

MRSA infections can be more difficult to treat than other bacterial infections. But they're still treatable because the MRSA bacteria aren't resistant to all antibiotics. Minor skin infections may not always require any treatment, other than draining away any pus from the site of the infection.

The sample is often taken from the infection site, such as a wound, using a sterile swab. Fluid samples can also be taken from saliva, urine, or blood. A sample may be taken from your nose to find out whether you are "colonized" with MRSA.

MRSA usually appear as a bump or infected area that is red, swollen, painful, warm to the touch, or full of pus. If you or someone in your family experiences these signs and symptoms, cover the area with a bandage and contact your healthcare professional.

If you are a MRSA carrier, you still have the bacteria on your skin and in your nose. If you don't wash your hands properly, things that you use or touch with your hands can give the bacteria to other people. MRSA can also be found in the liquid that comes out of your nose or mouth when you cough or sneeze.

It is the leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections such as abscesses (boils), furuncles, and cellulitis. Although most staph infections are not serious, S. aureus can cause serious infections such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia, or bone and joint infections.

MRSA can cause serious infections that can become life-threatening if left untreated. If you or someone in your family has been diagnosed with MRSA, there are steps you should take to avoid spreading it to your family and friends. Follow the recommendations and practice good hygiene to take care of yourself.

Not everyone who has MRSA has an infection. Some people can have MRSA just living on their skin. These people are considered colonized with MRSA. These people have no symptoms and might not know they have it.

How long can you have MRSA without knowing? ›

The incubation period for MRSA ranges from one to 10 days.

MRSA is a contagious skin infection that spreads easily through skin-to-skin contact or indirectly from person to person.

In the community (where you live, work, shop, and go to school), MRSA most often causes skin infections. In some cases, it causes pneumonia (lung infection) and other infections. If left untreated, MRSA infections can become severe and cause sepsis—the body's extreme response to an infection.

When the patient encountered an intensely stressful situation an outbreak of MRSA occurred. The patient had additional underlying health issues that suppressed her immune system and made her more susceptible to stress. Gluten allergy and hypothyroidism were discovered and alleviated but did not end the MRSA outbreaks.

In rare instances, MRSA can enter the bloodstream, spread to internal organs and cause death. Signs of internal organ infection include fever, chills, low blood pressure, joint pains, severe headaches, shortness of breath and a rash over most of the body.

MRSA may look like a bump on the skin that may be red, swollen, warm to the touch, painful, filled with pus, or draining. The pus or drainage contains the infectious bacteria that can be spread to others. People with MRSA may have a fever.

In adults, MRSA infections that reach the bloodstream are responsible for numerous complications and fatalities, killing 10 percent to 30 percent of patients. An important predictor of morbidity and mortality in adults is the blood concentrations of vancomycin, the antibiotic of choice to treat this condition.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Staph bacteria are usually harmless, but they can cause serious infections that can lead to sepsis or death. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a cause of staph infection that is difficult to treat because of resistance to some antibiotics.

Because MRSA carriage is most common in the nares and on the skin (particularly in sites such as the axilla and groin), MRSA decolonization therapy typically includes intranasal application of an antibiotic or antiseptic, such as mupirocin or povidone-iodine, and topical application of an antiseptic, such as ...

At home — Treatment of MRSA at home usually includes a 7- to 10-day course of an antibiotic (by mouth) such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (brand name: Bactrim), clindamycin, minocycline, linezolid, or doxycycline.

Infections of the skin or other soft tissues by the hard-to-treat MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria appear to permanently compromise the lymphatic system, which is crucial to immune system function.

What is the strongest antibiotic for staph infection? ›

For serious staph infections, vancomycin may be required. This is because so many strains of staph bacteria have become resistant to other traditional antibiotics. This means other antibiotics can no longer kill the staph bacteria.

Vancomycin

Vancomycin is one of the most powerful antibiotics in the world. It's available in both oral and IV forms. But it's only used as an oral medication in very specific circumstances. For MRSA treatment, people usually get the IV form of vancomycin.

Staph infections are caused by staphylococcus bacteria. These types of germs are commonly found on the skin or in the nose of many healthy people. Most of the time, these bacteria cause no problems or cause relatively minor skin infections.

MRSA infections can rapidly progress, over hours or a day. When you see the first signs of it – you develop a fever above 101.3, your heart rate is faster than 90 beats per minute, you feel disoriented – see a doctor.

MRSA infection affects all ages and genders. Animals can carry MRSA, although they often get it from people. Intravenous drug users who share needles are 16 times more likely to get MRSA infection. Certain workers and members of the community are more at risk for MRSA infection.

Patients who were recently treated for a community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infection face a higher risk of recurrent infections if their households are contaminated with the same MRSA strain, a small study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests.

mecA/C – indicates methicillin-resistant (MR) staphylococci (not Staphylococcus aureus). This resistance marker will be reported with Staphylococcus epidermidis or lugdunesis.

The mec-A gene, is a genetic element found in MRSA strains. It encodes an additional penicillin binding protein PBP2a, which has a low affinity to all ß-lactam antibiotics and is responsible for the meticillin resistance of MRSA strains (2, 3).

MRSA is contagious and can be spread to other people through skin-to- skin contact. If one person in a family is infected with MRSA, the rest of the family may get it. MRSA was first identified in the 1960's and was mainly found in hospitals and nursing homes.

These strains are known as MRSA, which cannot be cured with traditional penicillin-related drugs. Instead, MRSA must be treated with alternate antibiotics. Initially, after problems with MRSA were recognized, most cases of MRSA infection occurred in people who were hospitalized or lived in nursing homes.

Can your body heal MRSA on its own? ›

The MRSA might go away on its own. However, your doctor may order a special antibiotic cream to be put into your nose and on any wounds you might have. It is important that you apply this cream as prescribed for the recommended number of days. You may be asked to wash your body with a special skin antiseptic.

MRSA infections typically occur when there's a cut or break in your skin. MRSA is very contagious and can be spread through direct contact with a person who has the infection. It can also be contracted by coming into contact with an object or surface that's been touched by a person with MRSA.

A clear performance issue with competing, commercially available technologies for MRSA is the unacceptably high number of MRSA false negative results—ranging from 6% to 30%—and false positive rates as high as 20%.

Blood Test

A test can also be used to determine whether you're infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph that's resistant to common antibiotics. Like other staph infections, MRSA can spread to bones, joints, blood, and organs, causing serious damage.

The mecA gene is a gene found in bacterial cells which allows a bacterium to be resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin and other penicillin-like antibiotics. The most commonly known carrier of the mecA gene is the bacterium known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Keep your hands clean by washing them thoroughly with soap and water. Or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with bandages until they heal. Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages.

You may need antibiotics for a few days or up to a few months, depending on how serious the infection is. If you get complications, you may need further treatment, such as surgery to drain a build-up of pus (abscess).

In the community (where you live, work, shop, and go to school), MRSA most often causes skin infections. In some cases, it causes pneumonia (lung infection) and other infections. If left untreated, MRSA infections can become severe and cause sepsis—the body's extreme response to an infection.