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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Curtis Williams, 21, of Mill Creek, shown earlier this week, spent two days in intensive care in June when he developed MRSA after getting a tattoo on his right shoulder. (click to enlarge)   ADVERTISEMENT   About MRSA Q: What is MRSA? A: Staphylococci or “staph” are bacteria that live on people’s skin and in human noses, usually without causing harm. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a kind of staph bacteria that has become resistant to a range of antibiotics. Q: What do MRSA infections look like? A: Common skin conditions caused by MRSA include infected cuts, boils, infected hair follicles, fluid filled blisters or skin sores that look like infected insect bites. Minor MRSA infections can sometimes develop serious complications, spreading to surrounding tissues and causing abscesses, or blood, bone or heart infections. Q: How does someone contract MRSA? A: You can get MRSA by touching the infected skin or wound of someone who has MRSA or by sharing objects such as towels or athletic equipment with an infected person. Q: How do I protect myself and others from MRSA? A: Most importantly, wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. If you already have some type of skin infection, keep the area covered with dry bandages and clothing. Change the bandage regularly. If MRSA is in your lungs, cover your mouth with a tissue when you cough. Throw the tissue in a wastebasket and wash your hands. If MRSA is in your urine, clean your bathroom well. Source: Snohomish Health District Flu shots Doctors recommend that people get flu shots to keep their immune systems strong so they can fend off drug-resistant bacterial infections, including MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Here are a few places around the county you can get a shot: The Snohomish Health District’s Everett and Lynnwood clinics. The cost is $30 for an adult and $15 for a child who qualifies for the Vaccine for Children Program. You can walk in or make an appointment by contacting the Everett office, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 108, at 425-339-5220 or the Lynnwood office, 6101 200th St. SW, at 425-775-3522. From Visiting Nurse Services of the Northwest, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday at the Everett Events Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave. Cost is $30. At Haggen Food & Pharmacy and TOP Food & Drug stores in Snohomish County. Shots are $30; no appointments are necessary. Clinics are scheduled: · From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, Nov. 4 and Nov. 17 at the Arlington Haggen store, 20150 74th Ave. · From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Stanwood Haggen store, 26603 72nd Ave. NW. For a complete list of places to get flu shots in the county, go to www.flucliniclocator.org or www.getaflushot.com.   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Conditions requiring Health Department notification ( PDF) • Facts about Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) ( PDF) • Guidelines for managing MRSA ( PDF) • Living with MRSA ( PDF)   Related Stories • Superbug scare closes Edmonds private school 11/7/07 • 'Superbug' infection scary for woman, family 10/26/07 • Testing urged for drug-resistant staph 10/25/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, October 21, 2007 One simple step stops this superbug By Yoshiaki Nohara Herald Writer News that an antibiotics-resistant bug might be killing more Americans than HIV/AIDS is prompting doctors in Snohomish County to call for more prevention against infections caused by the pathogen. More and more people are suffering from soft-tissue and skin infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Sometimes those infections lead to life-threatening complications. "I'm pretty confident that we have thousands of cases of MRSA each year in Snohomish County," said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District. Local data is scarce. Washington state doesn't require hospitals to report MRSA infection cases. Nor are there specific, uniform guidelines to deal with patients who have the infection. Local doctors say that they've been aware of the danger of drug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA, for several years. "We've seen death due to this organism," said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, associate medical director at the Everett Clinic. Doctors agree that more prevention is needed now to save lives. Medical institutions and public health agencies play a role in stopping MRSA from spreading, but the first line of defense belongs to individuals. In short: Wash your hands. "Every time we get a new bug, we go back to the basics: You have something to do with prevention," said Mary Selecky, Washington state's secretary of health. The bacterium made national headlines after a study last week appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, where researchers analyzed about 9,000 cases of invasive MRSA. They extrapolated data to the entire U.S. population and estimated that the bug might be killing about 19,000 people annually in the country. If the estimate is accurate, that's more than the number of people who die of HIV/AIDS each year. The study, considered the biggest and most comprehensive to date, showed that the bug's impact is much greater than scientists had thought. The study is a starting point for grasping the issue, said Dr. Gary Preston, an epidemiologist for Providence Everett Medical Center, Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington and Valley General Hospital in Monroe. It only covers invasive MRSA cases, but omits skin and soft-tissue infections caused by the bug, which are much more common. The bug has existed for decades on people's skin and in human noses, Tu said. Its behavior and health risks have changed in recent years. The Everett Clinic has taken cultures to test for staph since 2001. Their data indicates that more and more staph has become resistant to traditional antibiotics. Experts believe the overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics have contributed to the rapid increase of MRSA. People shouldn't take antibiotics for just a cold; doing so makes their bodies more susceptible to bacterial infections, local doctors said. When they take antibiotics for such infections, they need to make sure they are following a doctor's instructions. Otherwise, incomplete killing of the bacteria leads to mutations that are more resistant to antibiotics. MRSA can spread among people during skin-to-skin contact and through shared objects such as towels, razors and doorknobs. Curtis Williams, 21, spent two days fighting MRSA in an intensive care unit at Providence Everett Medical Center earlier this year. The Mill Creek man said he got the infection after getting a big tattoo on his right shoulder in June. He didn't cover the open wounds on the shoulder, which soon got sore and tender. Pimple-like bumps started popping up and quickly spread to his right ankle. "If I had waited another day, it would've spread all over," Williams said, adding that he's doing fine now. Scientists have said that MRSA infections mainly spread through hospitals and nursing homes. But the new study indicates that more and more infections are occurring in the community. The best way to prevent MRSA infections is to stick to common hygiene practices, including frequent, thorough hand washing and by keeping cuts clean and covered. "The best way to protect yourself is to always wash your hands, especially after being in public areas," said Ruth Sharrett, a nurse at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds. "Anytime you touch things out in public such as door handles or cash machine buttons, you are at risk." Stevens Hospital puts all MRSA patients in isolation in a private room, Sharrett said. Anyone entering the room has to wear a gown and gloves. The Everett Clinic practices a similar procedure, and staff sterilizes tools and equipment completely. To date, no clinic workers have been infected with MRSA, Tu said. Some European countries have required hospitals to screen and isolate MRSA patients to stop the bug from spreading. Debate on MRSA tracking is national. In Washington, the Legislature passed a hospital-reporting law earlier this year; the measure doesn't target MRSA, but includes it, said Donn Moyer, state Department of Health spokesman. Tracking may just confirm what local doctors already know. "We know it's here. We know it has rapidly increased," Tu said. Tracking MRSA cases means taking away money from tracking other reportable diseases, said Goldbaum, of the Snohomish Health District. But prevention can be easier and more efficient to reduce the number of infections. Meanwhile, doctors and medical officials are trying to spread a simple message: Wash your hands. Ask others to wash their hands. Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.

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