Why is mrsa dangerous

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed Nov. Mayo Clinic; Elsevier Point of Care. Elsevier; Ferri FF. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Harris A. Related MRSA prevention. Mayo Clinic Press Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic.

Being in close contact with someone who has MRSA, such as in contact sports. Living in a place that isn't clean. Sharing used personal items such as towels, clothes, or razors. Having cuts, cracked skin, or open sores. There are simple things you can do to stop MRSA and other germs from spreading: Clean your hands regularly with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub hand sanitizer. This is the best way to stop germs from spreading.

Clean your home regularly, especially the kitchen and bathroom. Wash clothing using regular laundry soap in the regular wash cycle. Clean shared items like sports equipment and counters with a household disinfectant. See a doctor if you have any signs of an infection such as pain and fever.

Cover wounds that are draining with a clean, dry dressing. You might have heard it called a "superbug". MRSA infections mainly affect people who are staying in hospital. They can be serious, but can usually be treated with antibiotics that work against MRSA.

MRSA lives harmlessly on the skin of around 1 in 30 people, usually in the nose, armpits, groin or buttocks. This is known as "colonisation" or "carrying" MRSA. Getting MRSA on your skin will not make you ill, and it may go away in a few hours, days, weeks or months without you noticing. But it could cause an infection if it gets deeper into your body. Healthy people, including children and pregnant women, are not usually at risk of MRSA infections. Having MRSA on your skin does not cause any symptoms and does not make you ill.

You will not usually know if you have it unless you have a screening test before going into hospital. It also includes cephalosporins. These antibiotics are most often used to treat skin infections.

Antibiotic resistance was first discovered with a penicillin-like antibiotic called methicillin. This is a life-threatening infection and more difficult to treat. An MRSA skin infection is sometimes mistaken for a large pimple, impetigo , or spider bite due to their similar appearance. Some types of skin infections it can cause are:. There may be signs that it contains pus such as:. MRSA can cause severe pneumonia if it gets into your lungs. Pus-filled lung abscesses and empyema can form.

Symptoms include:. MRSA can infect the inside of your heart. This can quickly damage your heart valves. Some symptoms are:. Bacteremia means there are bacteria in your bloodstream. Symptoms may include:. Osteomyelitis is another name for a bone infection.

When MRSA causes an infection in a bone, symptoms include:. MRSA is very contagious. MRSA only causes an infection when it finds an opening such as a cut and enters your skin or body. MRSA is transmitted through contact with someone who has the infection or any object or surface that has the bacteria on it.

This includes:.