In the hospital, the nursing home or other health care settings, patients who have had extensive surgery, a catheter or dialysis, as well as patients who have weakened immune systems, are most at risk for getting health care-associated MRSA, or HA-MRSA. The infection in this case gets a free ride directly into the body where it can cause pneumonia, a blood infection and other serious complications. Blacks get MRSA at twice the rate of whites according to the CDC, probably because of the higher rate of chronic illnesses in blacks.
Though you may feel like there is nothing you can do to prevent getting an infection in the hospital, you do possess a powerful weapon to fight infections: your voice. Ask your doctors and nurses to wash their hands before touching you because hand washing is our best defense against transmitting infections. Consider hanging a little hand washing reminder sign near your bed. Health care personnel in a hurry often skip washing their hands between patients or procedures on the same patient. Dr. Neil Fishman, chairperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Task Force on Antimicrobial Availability, enthusiastically exclaims that no one should be embarrassed or ashamed to ask their doctor or nurse to wash their hands. It's your right.
In addition to hand washing, hospitals help prevent infections spreading among patients by cleaning medical devices and linens properly, isolating patients with highly contagious or hard to treat diseases, and encouraging health care personnel to not only wash hands, but to wear gloves, masks, gowns and other protective equipment when appropriate. As a patient, you don't have much control over all those factors, but you can get your doctor and nurse to wash their hands before touching you, which will go a long way to prevent the spread of MRSA.
Also see tips to prevent community acquired MRSA, MRSA in the gym and MRSA in men who have sex with men.
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Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Press Release. CDC estimates 94,000 invasive drug-resistant staph infections occurred in the U.S. in 2005. October 16, 2007.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. Healthcare-Associated MRSA. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
Infectious Diseases Society of America. Bad Bugs, No Drugs. As Antibiotic Discovery Stagnates, a Public Health Crisis Brews. July 2004.
Heymann, David (2004.) Control of communicable diseases manual. Washington D.C.: American Public Health Association.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings- 2002. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
Dr. Neil Fishman. Interview by telephone by Anna Spector. July 25, 2007.