Everyone is worried about MRSA these days. It stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, and is a bacterium that causes infections which are hard to treat, and which are resistant to many types of antibiotics. Dr. Todd Minars of Minars Dermatology, which does both medical and cosmetic dermatological procedures and is based in Hollywood, Florida, talks here about the common cases he sees in his dermatologist’s office.
MRSA is certainly something we see a lot of as dermatologists. People panic when they hear they have MRSA. But really for most healthy people, at least in the dermatologist’s office, it just causes either a boil or folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicle, and is treatable.
So, for instance, if somebody has a boil, we drain it. Even without antibiotics, they get better. So in that case, it is not important that it is resistant to antibiotics, as the treatment is just incision and drainage.
Hospital MRSA Different
In the hospital, it is different since in the intensive care unit, MRSA kills people. The reason why is because these are people who are sick to begin with, and they get overwhelmed with infection.
There is a difference between community-acquired MRSA and hospital-acquired MRSA. There is a difference between MRSA in my town and MRSA in your town. It seems to be local. The doctors seem to know which antibiotics work, but what works in South Florida may not work on the particular strain of MRSA they are seeing in New York.
In South Florida, most cases of MRSA which I see are sensitive to Doxycycline. And in our community, it is also sensitive to Bactrim, two common antibiotics which this type of MRSA responds well to.
Eliminating Infection
So in the dermatologist’s office, we see boils and we see folliculitis cause by MRSA. And when I see them, I treat them and give them a set of instruction on how to eliminate the bacteria from their skin, to contain it so they do get re-infected from the boils.
It is important to understand that there is a difference between infection and colonization. Some people may be colonized with MRSA, meaning it lives on their skin, in the nostrils or on other parts of their body where it thrives. But they are not infected with it; they have no symptoms.
When symptoms occur, there is an opportunity, such as when you cut yourself shaving or if the MRSA invades a hair follicle. That is when you have to treat the infection and eliminate the colonization. And there is a set of instructions which includes using antibacterial soaps and dispensing creams where it lives, such as the nostrils and the belly button.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
