| The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department says 21 cases of MRSA have been reported in Calhoun since August, 2008.
There have been no reported outbreaks of the CA-MRSA strain to the MOVHD from Calhoun in the last 6 months of 2008.
"Those reports do not reflect the actual number of cases in the population," said Dr. Sherif Ibrahim, Regional Epidemiologist with the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department, saying "the number is likely many times higher."
The WV Department of Health in Charleston does not require reporting MRSA cases, unless there is an "outbreak" of two or more cases at one location.
"Many people have MRSA without the symptoms," Dr. Ibrahim said.
"It becomes more of a health problem when it is not diagnosed early," Dr. Ibrahim said, "Most of our regional physicians are very much aware of MRSA."
School systems have made significant efforts to prevent the spread
of the disease.
MRSA THE DISEASE
MRSA is a type of bacteria called staphylococcus aureus (or simply staph) that has become resistant to some of the commonly used antibiotics, such as penicillin.
Staph bacteria may live on the skin or in the nose of up to 30% of the population without causing infection.
Recent studies have shown that between 1 and 10% of population may be colonized with MRSA without having any symptoms.
MRSA can be acquired from healthcare related facilities, such as hospitals, dialysis centers, nursing homes, etc. and affects people with weakened immune system due to an illness or a disease.
MRSA also may affect healthy people in the community who have not been in a hospital or have not had a medical procedure within the last year. This type of MRSA is called Community Acquired (CA-MRSA) and is sensitive to many antibiotics.
CA-MRSA is considered the most common cause of skin infection in the U.S. and represents almost 12% of all MRSA cases.
The MOVHD investigates each outbreak of MRSA and an investigative team, consisting of an epidemiologist and an environmental health specialist, usually visits the outbreak site.
PREVENTING MRSA
The main goals of this team is to prevent further spread of the infection by educating the community about the preventive interventions, such as washing hands, practicing good personal hygiene, and methods of environmental disinfection as necessary.
Dr. Ibrahim says the Health Department considers the CA-MRSA strain, for several reasons, "under diagnosed in our community as well as at the national level."
Several factors have been identified to facilitate the spread of MRSA skin infection in the communities, such as poor personal hygiene, close skin-to-skin contacts, uncovered or draining wounds or skin abrasions, and sharing personal items that might be contaminated.
MRSA can resist several antibiotics but can not resist simple hand washing.
The MOVHD encourages people to follow preventive measures:
1. Keep your hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed.
3. Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages.
4. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, razors, clothing, deodorants, etc.
5. Take antibiotics only if you need them (not for cold, flu or other viral infections that do not respond to antibiotics).
6. Seek immediate medical attention if you have a wound that is not healing.
7. If you are given antibiotics by your doctor, take all of the doses, even if you feel better unless your doctor tells you to stop taking it. Do not share your antibiotics with other people or save unfinished antibiotics to use at another time.
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