GoodToGo

My "Bacterial Bob" comment at the end of the last post generated some questions. I guess these pictures offer a pretty definitive answer. It started off as a small itch, that developed in a couple of days to what looked like a ant bite. Then it got worse. After about 5 days I started on a course of antibiotics (Keflex) that had no apparent affect. The situation got acute, and the hand surgeon that first saw it was appalled. Within a few hours he had removed the top of my finger and I began my first ever hospital stay to receive IV antibiotics for my MRSA infection. It has taken about a month to heal. The antibiotics helped I'm sure, but I think Becky's cow liniment really did the trick. The little scab in the last frame is just a scratch from handling fish, nothing to do with the original infection. It does seem that the skin has separated from the nail so it might take awhile for a new nail to grow in, I can deal with that. bbbb

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a specific strain of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium that has developed antibiotic resistance to all penicillins, including methicillin and other narrow-spectrum β-lactamase-resistant penicillin antibiotics.^[1] MRSA was first discovered in the UK in 1961 and is now widespread, particularly in the hospital setting where it is commonly termed a superbug.

MRSA may also be known as oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA) and multiple-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, while non-methicillin resistant strains of S. aureus are sometimes called methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) if an explicit distinction must be made.

Although MRSA has traditionally been seen as a hospital-associated infection, there is currently an epidemic of community-acquired MRSA in the USA. The abbreviations CA-MRSA (community-associated MRSA) and HA-MRSA (hospital-associated MRSA) are now commonly seen in the literature.