MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a staph bacteria that is resistant to standard antibiotic treatment. Recently, it has caught the media’s attention, but has been a factor in facility management for some time.
1. MRSA incidence is on the rise.
2007 Statistics*
MRSA: 94,000 acute infections
19,000 deaths
FLU: 200,000 hospitalizations
36,000 deaths
2.MRSA is spread by skin-to-skin contact or touching surfaces that have MRSA bacteria on them.
3. There are two types of MRSA. One is hospital-acquired, or HA-MRSA, which accounts for 86% of all cases*. The other is community acquired, or CA-MRSA, which accounts for 14% of all cases*.
4. Both HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA continue to evolve and change, making them resistant to some drug therapies.
MRSA can look like a common spider bite, turf burn, boil, rash, ingrown hair, impetigo, infected skin or infected wound. Typically it is found in the area of armpits, groin, neck and buttocks.
Other symptoms can include unexplained fever, muscular pain, or fatigue, especially in the several months following a skin infection.
CA-MRSA most often cause mild skin infections. It can cause more serious skin infections within the body, but these cases are quite rare.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), almost all MRSA skin infections can effectively be treated by your doctor. Treatment may include the draining of the infected site and an antibiotic specifically developed for MRSA.
1. Educate your facility managers and personnel about recognizing MRSA.
2. Implement a hand washing initiative and training program for aggressive hand washing and hand sanitizing.
3. Implement a 2-step cleaning program that uses standard infection control procedures.
• Surface must be cleaned before applying disinfectant.
• Use of disinfectants should be reserved only for surfaces touched by skin.
• Disinfectant must be given proper dwell time to perform.
• Environmentally preferred products provide better indoor air quality and will not burden an individual’s immune system.
Multi-Purpose Non-Food Contact Sanitizer-Virucide*-Cleaner-HBV**
• Cleans and sanitizes.
• Kills 99.9% of Influenza A2/Japan virus.
• Prepares surfaces for additional disinfecting.
• H2Orange2 Concentrate 117 for Fresh Orange Scent or Concentrate 118 for Light Clean Scent.
Critical Care Disinfectant-Fungicide-Virucide***
• Kills MRSA1 in 2 minutes.
• Odorless, ready-to-use.
• 30 second immediate disinfection on common bacteria and HIV-1.
• 24 hour§ residual kill on common bacteria.
Proper disinfection is a two-step process. First, the surface must be cleaned of surface dirt and any organic material.
Second, a sanitizer or disinfectant must be applied and allowed to dwell for the appropriate amount of time according to the manufacturer’s directions.
