Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUponHow to Protect Your Family
CA-MRSA is usually spread by skin-to-skin contact with infected people (while playing sports like football or wrestling, for example, as well as giving hugs and handshakes). Doctors recommend these steps to lower your risk:Keep your hands clean. Washing with soap and warm water several times a day is the single best way to combat staph. Teach kids to rub their hands briskly under running water for at least 15 seconds (about the amount of time it takes to recite the alphabet). Carry alcohol-based hand sanitizer for times when soap and water aren't available. It's also helpful to keep kids' fingernails short and to discourage nose picking.
Cover cuts and scrapes. Any wound should be washed with soap and water, then covered with dry, sterile bandages until it heals. Apply a clean dressing daily. Pus from infected sores can contain CA-MRSA, so it's also important to wash your hands after changing bandages to avoid spreading staph.
Don't share personal items. Tell your kids not to use friends' and teammates' towels, washcloths, clothing, uniforms or razors. People who appear perfectly healthy can still be CA-MRSA carriers. Shared sports equipment, such as helmets and gym mats, should be cleaned with an antibacterial solution after every use.
Sanitize gym clothing and linens. If anyone in the family has a cut, sore or infection, wash bedding and towels in hot water with added bleach. Wash sports clothing and washable athletic gear with laundry detergent after each use. Drying laundry in a hot dryer, not on a clothesline, also helps kill bacteria.
Remember flu shots. Since the flu lowers resistance to CA-MRSA, getting vaccinated every year helps protect against both diseases. The best time to get the shot is in October or November. Flu shots are approved for kids over six months of age.
Get tested. If you have a skin infection that needs medical treatment, ask the doctor to check for CA-MRSA, which responds only to certain antibiotics. Many MDs prescribe the wrong drugs because they don't do a test. That can worsen the infection. Until recently, diagnosis typically involved doing a culture. But it takes up to 48 hours to grow the bacteria in a lab, meaning that people could continue to spread the infection while waiting for lab results.
In April of this year, the FDA approved the one-hour Xpert MRSA test, which uses DNA technology to check the nose for the superbug. That gives hospitals a fast, reliable way to screen patients for MRSA before admission. Next year, the test's manufacturer, Cepheid, expects approval of a DNA test for use on tissue samples from infected areas, giving doctors another tool for rapid diagnosis.
Be sure to take all your prescribed medication -- even if your skin heals. Bacteria you leave alive today can morph into tomorrow's superbugs.
Advertisement 
Your Comments
See all
...