Infection control has never been more important, and it is paramount in any medical setting. This includes hospitals, operating theatres, medical centres, dental clinics, aged care facilities and hospices, the back of ambulances, medical laboratories, as well as in personal care settings including beauty salons, tattooists, piercers, nail salons, and more.

There is a remarkable number of harmful microorganisms to which humans may be exposed, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and more. The risks from these are higher in settings where people are unwell, injured, have close contact, or the integrity of the surface of the skin is compromised by any kind of wound or skin issue.

Perhaps the most common and concerning infection from a medical standpoint in a hospital or other clinical setting in terms of risk to the community is MRSA.

MRSA – What is It?

Often called “Golden Staph”, MRSA is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. A type of bacteria, it is resistant to the most common penicillin-based antibiotics, making it incredibly difficult to treat and control its spread.

Common in the community, MRSA is carried by many people and most with the bacteria will never have an active MRSA infection. MRSA lives on the skin, and it can be spread directly between people via contact with contaminated skin as well as bed linen, towels, clothing, and wound dressings, as well as surfaces such as door handles, taps, furniture, and more. People are most vulnerable to MRSA infection if they have a cut, scratch, graze, open blister or sore, or another impingement to the integrity of the skin.

MRSA usually causes skin infections; it can occasionally cause bacterial pneumonia, wound infections, and bloodstream infections. Untreated infection in a person who is elderly, otherwise unwell, immunocompromised, or having surgery may spread throughout the body and result in life-threatening sepsis. This is a medical emergency.

Who is at Risk?

Anyone can catch MRSA, but most infections arise in hospitals. MRSA spread in the community is usually through direct contact with a contaminated wound or indirectly via contact with contaminated clothing, bed linen, towels, razors, clippers, or another surface that has directly touched the infected skin.

Risks are higher in certain groups of people, including after having surgery, while an inpatient in a hospital, residents of aged care facilities, people who use IV drugs, people with a hip replacement, artificial heart valve, pacemaker, or other implanted medical device, and people who are immunocompromised due to cancer, HIV, etc. It’s also higher in the elderly, in daycare centres, in dormitories and barracks, and people who use shared equipment (e.g. gyms).

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Ways to Reduce the Risk

  • Wash your hands – after using the toilet, when you have been out (especially at a medical facility, a shopping centre, and using public transport), and before eating and drinking. Sanitise your hands where possible.
  • Wipe down shopping trolley handles with the provided antibacterial wipes before use.
  • Shower or take a bath every day. Change bed linen weekly and change bath towels at least twice per week, washing these in hot water.
  • If you have an open wound of any kind, keep it clean, disinfected, and covered until healed. Signs of infection (e.g. surrounding warmth, redness, or pus) need to be promptly seen by your GP.
  • Never share towels, washcloths, clothing, or personal items like razors.
  • Keep your home and work environment clean and disinfect bathroom and kitchen surfaces.
  • Use PPE in all clinical and associated environments. For example, disposable nitrile examination gloves should be used for everything from changing dressings to cleaning equipment when a known MRSA infection has been present.

Avoiding MRSA and taking care of your own health and well-being is crucial. Visit your state’s health department website for more information.