Our good friends' 2 year-old daughter ("Mya") has been struggling with recurrent MRSA infections for over a year. Her most recent outbreak landed her in the hospital for two days! She has been home for a week now and her family is rigorously trying to "decolonize" themselves and their household through antibiotic nasal gel, bleaching linens and surfaces, bathing, etc.
Here's the thing - they stopped by unexpectedly yesterday while they were in the neighborhood, and Mya played inside with my two boys, 2 and 1, for about an hour. We were taken aback that they came over, but didn't want to tell them they couldn't come into our home! Our friends insist that as long as Mya is being treated, she has no open sores, and they are doing the whole disinfecting thing, the risk of infecting others is low, but from what I understand, MRSA is extremely contagious whether you're having an active outbreak or not.
After our friends left, we sanitized the boys' toys and common hard surfaces (doorknobs, etc.) and made sure they scrubbed up, but I am terrified right now! What are the chances that they are going to get MRSA now? Am I overreacting? I don't want to treat poor little Mya like a leper, but at the same time, I want to protect my own kids from getting this nightmarish infection.
The good news: MRSA is EVERYWHERE. Literally. It's all over the place. Your kids have probably all ready been exposed a hundred times. It rarely colonizes and causes health issues unless there is an underlying medical condition or immune deficiency. The risk of your kids 'catching' MRSA from Mya is pretty much nil :D
Hi S.,
Your concern is understood. Poor "Mya" and her family!
I don't know how long bacteria lives without a host. Smart to disinfect your home. "Scrubbing up" was hopefully not done hard - so as not to scrape the skin.
I don't think you were overreacting. I'd relax a bit since you cleaned up.
I used to work in a hospital with MRSA+ patients. I'm not a professional, so I can't offer much insight other than we would "gown up" (wear gowns and gloves) and wash before leaving such a patient's room. If they came to our work area we would sanitize all equipment used by those persons. I've never gotten it, of course I was protected. It greatly concerned me when people with this infection were released into the community with their families. At the time I worked there, it was a new type of infection. Some attitudes were lax. Infections spread and then became deadly elsewhere in the country.
My guess is that if your children are healthy and do not have any serious health problems and don't have any open wounds, they'll probably be fine.
Hope all is well,
: ) Maureen
I work at in an intensive care unit in a busy hospital. We swab every patient who enters our unit to test their nasal passages for MRSA. Many people are colonized with it and don't even know it because it just lives in their nose without ever making them sick. If someone comes back positive for MRSA we isolate them and use gowns/gloves when touching them, but we don't give them antibiotics for the MRSA. In other words, if they are only colonized, but not actually sick with active MRSA infection we do not treat them for it, but we use gowns/gloves to protect the other very sick and immunocompromised patients in the unit. Some of the infection disease specialist within our own hospital say it is overkill for us to use gown/gloves on a patient who does not have active MRSA infection, but we do it just to protect our other patients. I hope this gives you some peace of mind. Keep your kids healthy with good nutrition, exercise, the usual stuff and keep your house clean. Clean and cover any cuts/scrapes and try not to worry about it too much :)
At this point, you can do nothing but make sure any open cuts, scratches, etc.. your children have are clean and have been treated with antiseptic. Talk with your pediatrician because he/she might put your kids on antibiotics as a precaution. I would feel the same way that you are.... If Mya is not cleared to go to daycare or be around other kids by her pediatrician, that she should not be around yours!
Hi S.,
You asked a good question, and I don't have the answer for you. However, I bet if you called the nurse at your pediatricians office (or whatever doctor you use for your children), she/he could help you. I would be curious what the response would be!
Good luck!
I really feel for everyone in the situation. You are very kind to worry about Mya feeling like a pariah - this must be a terrible year for them all. But of course you want to protect your family. I think that MRSA, along with H1N1 and strep and pneumonia, are "out there" and you are exposed regularly. Unless you are going to keep your kids out of school, stores, malls, restaurants, and so on, you are all going to be exposed to something. You can't go around disinfecting everything, and a lot of authorities say we are actually creating problems by over-sanitizing. I'm not saying you were wrong to do that when you knew MRSA was in your house, mind you. But our use of antibacterials is killing beneficial bacteria and allowing other things (super-bugs, resistant germs, and all viruses) to grow out of proportion.
Experts say we are all at greater risk than 20 years ago, since our foods are deficient and our soils are depleted - we are missing key nutrients and trace elements. In 2003, the AMA said everyone has to supplement no matter how "healthy" we think our diets are - but the Physicians Desk Reference as well as a major investigation of the nation's water supply say that pills (vitamins, etc.) are not absorbed well at all, and often 70% of what we take winds up not being used by our bodies and winds up being eliminated into the sewage systems. So, a lot of money and a lot of intake goes to waste. In fact, my stepdaughter's pediatrician told her not to bother giving her kids Flintstones vitamins or anything similar - they just created "expensive urine" because most everything is excreted. The only way to go is liquid nutrition. Our family did that 2 years ago and no one has had a cold since. My son has been exposed to numerous severe infections and has gotten not one thing. So, to answer your request about ways to protect your kids, that is the way I would go.
As a parent, I certainly understand your concerns. As someone who has dealt with MRSA and met with one of the top rated specialists in the country regarding it, they are correct regarding the risk of infecting others if they are treating it properly and there are no open sores. No harm in aggressive cleaning though; there are many other nasty things out there as well. You also may want to have a conversation with your friend about your concerns so that another uncomfortable situation can be avoided in the future.
We had very close friends go through this MRSA colonization process a few years ago and it was so hard on them.
But like other posters stated, the chances of catching it from them is very low. As long as there are no open sores and she's on ABX your risk is very very low.
Hi S.,
Last yr in the school I worked at, kids would come back to school with the sore or area bandaged. The drs. were saying as long as it was covered it was ok to be in school while the kids were on antibiotics.
If the little girl had no open sores, were not on antibiotics etc, then yes, I'd be concerned.
MRSA is highly contagious like a cold virus just more serious of course.
Disinfecting your home is helpful...just watch any conversation around your children regarding your friends or their child as little ones often repeat what adults say.
I believe you should be fine.
