Living With ORSA/MRSA/VRSA


Protecting yourself and others

In spite of the cost of living, it's still popular.
-Kathy Norris

If you think you have a staph infection, see your doctor. Parents, coaches, school nurses, and church leaders should be alert for skin infections and encourage athletes or students to seek medical treatment.

Before you have a situation in which you are responsible for caring for someone with an infection, learn how to protect yourself! A good source of information is to ask a nurse or other healthcare worker to show you the "standard precautions," he or she would follow when treating an infected wound.

If you have any signs that indicate you may have acquired an infection, seek professional care immediately.

Prevention is key

    If you have a staph infection, here are some steps you can take to decrease the risk of exposure to your family and others around you:

    1. Cover all wounds with clean bandages. Keep infections covered with clean, dry bandages. If you are responsible for changing bandages for someone with an infection, carefully follow the infection control steps used by healthcare professionals. This includes handwashing, wearing gloves, properly disposing of contaminated bandages, and more handwashing!

    2. Wash your hands often, take frequent showers, and practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. If a family member has an infection, insist that everyone in the household follow this step.

    3. Don't share any personal items such as towels, washcloths, bar soap, razors, combs, clothing or sports equipment.

    4. Routinely clean any exercise equipment used by others.

    5. Wash potentially infected linens and clothing in hot water with laundry detergent and then dry them in a hot dryer!

      If you have any signs that indicate you may have acquired an infection, seek professional care immediately.

Environmental Cleaning

    Ensure that proper room cleaning occurs on a daily basis, or more often if needed to reduce bacterial load. Cleaning supplies should be dedicated to the room. Bath tubs, whirlpools, and hydrotherapy tubs should be cleaned and disinfected after each use. Solutions of bleach diluted to 1:64 with water (1/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water) are acceptable for disinfection of environmental surfaces.

    Sharing of personal items should not be permitted. When possible, dedicate non-critical items such as a stethoscope and other examination tools to a particular person. Don't let aides or home health nurses use these products on you that have been on other people and then will leave you and go to yet more people.

Cooking in the Colony

    When you eat in a restaurant, you assume they know how to prevent the chance of passing Staph on to you, the customer. However, in our own homes where we already know we have a staph bacteria present, cooking is often overlooked. Staph is a common cause of Food Poisoning so we should be aware of how it is avoided and when not avoided, how it is recognized!

    Symptoms of staphylococcal food poisoning are usually rapid and in many cases serious, depending on individual response to the toxin, the amount of contaminated food eaten, the amount of toxin in the food ingested, and the general health of the victim. The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and prostration. Some individuals may not always demonstrate all the symptoms associated with the illness. In more severe cases, headache, muscle cramping, and changes in blood pressure and pulse rate may occur. Recovery generally takes two days. It is not unusual for complete recovery to take three days and sometimes longer.

    Staphylococcus aureus
    A Most Common Cause

    Staphylococcus aureus
    Analysis of Microbial Hazards Related to Time/Temperature Control of Foods for Safety

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