According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the MRSA bug is responsible for over 19,000 deaths in 2005, with over 94,000 reported cases in the U.S.

Community based MRSA manifests as a small skin infection, appearing like follucilitis or a small boil, and is generally painful. MRSA lives on the skin and can be contracted when some form of wound or opening occurs on the skin. Common treatment for staph is the use of methicillin-based antibiotics, but for MRSA methicillin cannot be used. This is due to MRSA being a strain of staph that has developed a resistance to it. Other antibiotics can be used to treat MRSA, but it is important to attain a proper diagnosis quickly.

Most health care based MRSA infections tend to be found in hospitals, dialysis centers, and nursing homes. MRSA is more commonly found in these places because those who are located there tend to have weakened immune systems due to previous illness or procedures.

MRSA can be carried without any symptoms of it’s presence, and without infection. People who are carrying the MRSA bug, but are without any symptoms, are know to be colonized with it. MRSA tends to be spread from contact of the skin, through touch or other means, so proper sanitation of the hands and skin is extremely important in order to prevent any complications from the MRSA bug