MRSA Virus Symptoms

What is methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA?

MRSA stands for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. This organism is known for causing skin infections, in addition to many other types of infections. There are other designations in the scientific literature for these bacteria according to where the bacteria are acquired by patients, such as community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA), and hospital-acquired MRSA or epidemic MRSA (EMRSA).

Although S. aureus has been causing infections (staph infections) probably as long as the human race has existed, MRSA has a relatively short history. MRSA was first noted in 1961, about two years after the antibiotic methicillin was initially used to treat S. aureus and other infectious bacteria. The resistance to methicillin was due to a penicillin-binding protein coded for by a mobile genetic element termed the methicillin resistant gene (mecA). In recent years, the gene has continued to evolve so that many MRSA strains are currently resistant to several different antibiotics. S. aureus is sometimes termed a "superbug" because of its ability to become resistant to several antibiotics. Unfortunately, MRSA can be found worldwide.

What are the signs and symptoms of MRSA infection?

Most MRSA infections are skin infections that produce the following signs and symptoms:

• cellulitis (infection of the skin or the fat and tissues that lie immediately beneath the skin, usually starting as small red bumps in the skin),
• boils (pus-filled infections of hair follicles),
• abscesses (collections of pus in under the skin),
• sty (infection of eyelid gland),
• carbuncles (infections larger than an abscess, usually with several openings to the skin), and
• impetigo (a skin infection with pus-filled blisters).

One major problem with MRSA is that occasionally the skin infection can spread to almost any other organ in the body. When this happens, more severe symptoms develop. MRSA that spreads to internal organs can become life-threatening. Fever, chills, low blood pressure, joint pains, severe headaches, shortness of breath, and "rash over most of the body" are symptoms that need immediate medical attention, especially when associated with skin infections.