Is MRSA curable?

[Can_U_Help]

I don't know if this is were I should be posting this question, but there are no forums for MRSA or staph so I took a chance. If I need to be in another forum please let me know and I will look there.

On to my question..so is MRSA curable? If the bacteria shows sensitivity to an antibiotic is the antibiotic more likely to kill the germ?

My problem is I have read on the internet and been told two different things, yes it can and no it can't.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[1Cindy1]

I would also like to know if MRSA continues to live on after the obvious sores have healed up.  My husbands doctor told me that he would never step foot inside of the same shower as my husband used causing me to think that this is a life long sentence for him to contend with.  Anybody else scared like I am of this contagious problem?

[Can_U_Help]

I went to the doctor today and she said that the one on my right leg at the top is a scar. The one on my left leg at the top she never said what it was. She said that since I am alergic to sulpha and she is treating me with tetracycline that it will probably take a while to get this all out of my system because it is a resistant bacteria. I specifically asked her if this was something I would always have and she said that the antibiotic (tetracyline) will hopefully kill it but it is going to take some time. She gave a script for another round of the antibiotic so I will be on this for 20 days as of right now. But even after her telling me that you can cure it and after finding literature on the Minnesota Department of Health website which plainly says: "Will I always have MRSA? Many people with active infections are treated effectively, and no longer have MRSA. However, sometime MRSA goes away after treatment and comes back several times. If MRSA infections keep coming back again and again, your doctor can help you figure out the reasons you keep getting them." everyone is still telling me that my doctor is a quack and I will always have this infection. The doctor also told me that this was a very common infection and that it is a big problem in the schools. How do I get these people to shutup and understand that unless I am a carrier this can be cured or are they right and my doctor and the MN Dept of Health are all quacks? Any advise/thought????

[Can_U_Help]

These bumps are still there and they are very painful and I am petrified to sqeeze them. I AM NOT GOING TO. They don't resemble the one on my leg at all. What's the chances that they are not staph? I need to go back to the doc and I am going to hopefully today. But if not I'll go first thing in the morning. This is worrying me to death.

[Can_U_Help]

Thank you for the info Dr Santos. This problem actually started for me about 5 or 6 years ago. I had a sore come up on my leg and it was extremely painful. But it came up right after shaving so I thought it was an infected hair follicle and did not go the doctor because I didn't have insurance and I still don't. The sore healed up and no more showed up until about 6 months to a year ago. When the second sore came up and it looked just like the first one I went straight to my family doctor because I knew something had to be going on since this was a recurrence. Since I didn't have insurance my doctor and I decided to treat the abscess as staph without a culture and she prescribed Levaquin (750mg once a day) because I am allergic to sulpha. I took the antibiotics and the wound healed (leaving a very bad scar). Then this one showed up about a week ago. I waited until the sore opened up enough to get a culture and I went to the doctor. She asked if I wanted to treat this with Levaquin as staff again without a culture and I was adamant that I wanted a culture this time. I told her I wanted to know for sure what it was and what we were dealing with. She ordered the culture and a sensitivity test on Thursday and the results came back on Saturday positive for MRSA. The sensitivity test showed the bacteria was sensitive to the sulpha but I'm allergic. It also showed sensitivity to Tetracycline. She prescribed Tetracycline (500mg 4 times a day). I have now had 6 doses of the antibiotic and the abscess is already a little less painful. I will most definitely finish all of the medication and I am keeping the wound covered and as sterile as possible until it is fully healed. I am washing my hands frequently with antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer (with alcohol). I spray the faucets down with Lysol every time I wash my hands after dressing the wound and I spray the shower/tub down after taking a shower. I put the towels and wash clothes that I use into a grocery bag until I get enough dirtied up to wash them and I'm washing them in hot water in liquid detergent with bleach for the colors and liquid detergent with bleach and straight bleach for the whites. I wash the wound/abscess on my leg 2 to 3 times a day with antibacterial soap. Am I doing what I need to do to try to keep from passing this infection around to my family? Is there anything else I need to do that I haven't mentioned?

In my original post, I am trying to find out if this is something that I need to be cautious for in the future? If I ever have a surgical procedure do I need to disclose that I was diagnosed and treated for MRSA in the past? My sister is an RN and my sister-in-law is an LPN. They both have told me that I will never be cured. They say that once you are infected with the bacteria it will always be in your body. They say it may lay dormant but if the immune system ever gets low and there is an open wound on the body then the wound will form another sore from the bacteria living in the body. But when I asked my doctor is this curable or will I always have this bacteria living in my body she said that it is curable but you never know if you have cured it. She said the only way to know that it is gone is if it never comes back (sores/wounds). So which is it, it is curable or it is not? I’m really confused about all this.

One thing that is odd to me is that I did not have a wound on my leg at anytime. All three spots that have come up over the past 5 to 6 years have appeared after I shave my legs. I don't cut my leg either. There is no cuts or abrasions on my leg; just a small bump resembling a pimple appears. The skin peels off and the sore/abscess opens up and becomes an extremely painful abscess. So since this has tested positive for MRSA and it appeared on my leg without an open wound, does this mean that you do not actually have to have an open cut, sore, wound etc for this to come out? All three spots have been on the front inner side of my left leg all between my knee cap and my ankle. I don't know if it's relevent or not but each one gets a little higher (closer to my knee cap).

This is a very complex diagnosis for an average person with no medical background to understand. But I REALLY want to understand what is going on with my body and is there a possibility or a certainty that this will be a recurring problem throughout my life?

I greatly appreciate your time and information.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an infection caused by a strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that is highly resistant to antibiotics. This can be  grouped into two types: 1) Healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) infections which occur in people who are or have recently been in the hospital; and
2) Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections are ones that occur in otherwise healthy people who have not recently been in the hospital. Diagnosis is usually made through blood, urine or skin culture.

For a local skin MRSA infection, draining the skin sore is often the only treatment needed. However. for more serious MRSA infections, antibiotics that may still work include vancomycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, linezolid, tetracycline, or clindamycin. In your case, if a culture and sensitivity test was done and it showed it is sensitive to a particular antibiotic, this may treat the infection. It is important to finish the full course of antibiotics prescribed, even if you feel better before the final dose. This is to prevent the development of further drug resistance in the bacteria.

What are your signs or symptoms? How are you feeling?  It would be best to discuss your results  with your doctor for proper management. Take care and keep us posted.

[Can_U_Help]

Sorry I did not mean to post this topic twice it was a computer glitche.