Last week the Statesman had a major article on drug-resistant bacteria that are becoming an increasing problem in Austin (AA-S, 9/15/03). The bacteria, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, are not usually serious for the average person, but they easily could be a major threat to someone who is immuno-compromised.

Staph bacteria are widely found among adults. One-third or more carry staph, including MRSA, in their noses and on the skin, but it doesn’t cause illness. If MRSA does become an infection, it doesn’t respond to first-line antibiotics and may develop into something major before being correctly identified and treated with effective, more advanced drugs like vancomycin. Brackenridge Hospital’s ER chief told the Statesman that they are seeing 10-plus cases each day, and recently two people died.

Serious outbreaks this year in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston have included many HIV-positive people among those stricken. No longer limited to hospitals — where poz people may spend time anyway — MRSA is increasingly acquired in “community settings.”

Simple physical contact with a carrier or something he’s handled can transmit the bacteria; sports and locker rooms are implicated in the Statesman article. The L.A. and SF outbreaks were significantly high in their jails and among sexually-active gay men; Boston saw numerous cases among drug users who shared snorting straws.

At first, a staph infection can look like a pimple or bug bite, but then it progresses to a more dramatic skin condition or abscess; it may cause sinus infections or even pneumonia or a blood infection demanding aggressive treatment to avoid death.

Careful hygiene is the No. 1 step to avoiding staph infections, including rigorous hand-washing. Someone with a persistent skin infection or sinus problem should see a doctor! Sores should always be properly covered, and contact with anyone’s skin problem should be avoided; if contact happens, wash up. Don’t share drug equipment.

People with HIV-damaged immune systems are definitely at increased risk for MRSA complications, but being careful or getting treatment promptly can keep those complications from becoming fatal.

Sandy Bartlett

Community Education Coordinator,

AIDS Services of Austin

This article appears in September 26 • 2003.

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