Massachusetts
Department of Public Health
Helpful reminders about
mrsa infection
Information for Patients
MRSA is a kind of Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”) bacteria that is
resistant to some kinds of antibiotics. Staph are bacteria commonly
carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Sometimes, staph
can cause an infection, especially pimples, boils and other problems
with the skin. These infections often contain pus, and may feel itchy
and warm. Occasionally, staph cause more serious infections. When
appropriately identified, staph and MRSA infections can be treated
successfully.
how are staph spread?
Staph, including MRSA, are spread by direct skin-to-skin contact, such as shaking hands,
wrestling, or other direct contact with the skin of another person. Staph are also spread by
contact with items that have been touched by people with staph, like towels shared after bathing and drying off, or shared athletic equipment in the gym or on the field.
Staph infections start when staph get into a cut, scrape or other break in the skin. If you have a skin infection—painful, swollen pimples, boils, and rashes, for example— you should be very careful to avoid spreading your infection to others. if i have a mrsa skin infection, how will it be treated? Most MRSA infections are treated by good wound and skin care: keeping the area clean and dry, washing your hands after caring for the area, carefully disposing of any bandages, and allowing your body to heal.
Sometimes treatment requires the use of antibiotics. If antibiotics are needed, it is important
to use the medication as directed unless your doctor tells you to stop. If the infection has not
improved within a few days after seeing your doctor, contact your doctor again.
how should i take care of a mrsa infection at home?
• Keep your wound covered with clean, dry bandages. This is especially important when the
wound is draining.
• After touching infected skin and bandages, wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 15-30 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand rub or gel.
• Put your dressings, bandages and other disposable waste in a separate trash bag and close the bag tightly before throwing it out with the regular garbage.
• Consider using clean, disposable, nonsterile gloves to change bandages. Throw gloves out
after you use them.
• Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions. Contact your provider if you have any
questions about caring for a MRSA infection at home.
if i have a mrsa skin infection, what can i do to prevent others from getting infected?
1. Cover your wound. Keep wounds that are draining or have pus covered with clean, dry
bandages. Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions on proper care of the wound.
Pus from infected wounds can contain staph and MRSA or other bacteria, so keeping the
infection covered will help prevent the spread to others.
2. Wash your hands. You, your family, and others in close contact should wash their hands
frequently with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after
changing the bandage or touching the infected wound.
3. Do not share personal items. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, washcloths,
razors, clothing, or athletic uniforms that may have had contact with the infected wound or
bandage.
4. Wash sheets, towels, and clothes that become soiled with hot water and laundry
detergent. Drying clothes in a hot dryer, rather than air-drying, also helps kill bacteria.
5. Make sure your wound is covered if you participate in contact sports or other skin-to-
skin contact.
6. Keep counter tops, tubs and sinks clean. Clean bathroom counters,
sinks, tubs and toilets frequently, as well as any other household surfaces
that come into direct contact with your wound, your wound drainage, or
your hands after you have tended to your infection.
7. Talk to your healthcare providers. While you are healing, tell any
other healthcare providers who treat you that you have a MRSA skin
infection. In the future, tell your healthcare providers that you have had
a MRSA infection.
8. If you are in a hospital and have a MRSA infection, your providers may take additional
measures to prevent others from becoming infected.
how can i prevent a mrsa infection in the first place?
• Regular handwashing is the best way to prevent getting and spreading MRSA. Keep your
hands clean by washing them frequently with soap and warm water or hand sanitizer, and
especially after direct contact with another person’s skin.
• Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until they have healed.
• Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages.
• Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, washcloths, toothbrushes, and razors. Sharing
these items may transfer MRSA from one person to another.
• Keep your skin healthy, and avoid getting dry, cracked skin, especially during the winter.
Healthy skin helps to keep the MRSA on the surface of your skin from causing an infection
underneath your skin.
• Contact your doctor if you have a skin infection that does not improve.
for more information about mrsa,
visit the mdph website at www.mass.gov/dph
regular
handwashing is
the best way to
prevent getting and
spreading mrsa.
Staph infections result when a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus enters the body through an open cut or break in the skin. They usually produce pus. Minor staph infections include infections of hair follicles after shaving, or sties, which occur when the follicle surrounding the eyelashes causes a sore red bump in the eyelid. Staph infection is also behind most cases of food poisoning and can also lead to more life-threatening conditions, such as toxic shock syndrome, pneumonia, and infections of the heart or blood. Those in hospitals, with weakened immune systems, are especially vulnerable to staph infection but now it has spread into the general population into otherwise healthy individuals.
