what is Mercers Disease?, I think that is what it is called.?!
Question: so called friend at party Sunday has it and failed to tell us
Answers:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, (MRSA) is a specific strain of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium that has developed antibiotic resistance, first to penicillin since 1947, and later to methicillin and related anti-staphylococcal drugs. Popularly termed a "superbug", it was first discovered in Britain in 1961 and is now widespread. Non-methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is termed methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) to make the distinction.
While an MRSA colonisation in an otherwise healthy individual is not usually a serious matter, infection with the organism can be life-threatening to patients with deep wounds, intravenous catheters or other foreign-body instrumentation, or as a secondary infection in patients with compromised immune systems. Part of the problem is that MRSA does not respond to the antibiotics normally prescribed for the infections in question, and can hence progress unchecked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin_resistant_staphylococcus_aureus
Other Answers:
Mercer disease or MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is the name given to varities of Staphylococcus aureus that have become resistant to the antibiotics that are commonly used to treat infections. It is the most well-known example of a 'super-bug', a germ that has become resistant to certain antibiotics.
Staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as “Staph,” are bacteria found in the nose or skin. Staph are the most common cause of skin infections. Some Staph have developed resistance to the most common family of antibiotics that treat skin and blood infections. These Staph are called methicillin (antibiotic)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA infections are common in hospitals and other healthcare settings, like dialysis centers or nursing homes. MRSA infections in hospitals often affect the very old and the very young or the very sick. However, recently MRSA infections have been found in healthy people outside of the hospital. Most of these MRSA infections are found in the skin and soft-tissue (muscle, fascia, fat).
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