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Mssa contagious: What Is it, What Causes it, and How Is it Treated?

What Is it, What Causes it, and How Is it Treated?

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

  • What Are the Symptoms of MSSA Bacteremia?
  • What Causes MSSA Bacteremia?
  • What Are the Risk Factors for Developing MSSA Bacteremia?
  • How Is MSSA Bacteremia Diagnosed?
  • How Is MSSA Bacteremia Treated?
  • How Can I Prevent MSSA Infections?
  • More

The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph) lives on the skin and in the nose of many people. It usually only causes a problem such as MSSA bacteremia if it gets inside the body.

Staph infections can be either methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible staph (MSSA). MSSA infections are usually treatable with antibiotics. However, MRSA infections are resistant to antibiotics. Many staph infections are mild, but they can also be serious and life-threatening.

MSSA Bacteremia occurs when the MSSA bacteria enter your bloodstream. This is a serious infection that has a high risk of complications and death. Once it’s in the bloodstream, the infection often spreads to other organs and tissues within the body such as the heart, lungs, or brain. 

MSSA bacteremia often starts as an MSSA infection in another part of the body. Many staph infections start on the skin. Symptoms of skin infection can include: 

  • Cellulitis: This causes red, painful, and swollen tissue just under the skin. 
  • Impetigo: This causes fluid-filled blisters to form and burst, leaving behind a brown or yellow crust. 
  • Abscesses: These are also called boils and are painful, red sores under the skin. 
  • Folliculitis: This causes painful, pimple-like sores under the hair follicles. 
  • Staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome (SSSS): This serious infection usually affects infants and young children. It causes the skin to peel off all over the body.  

Once staph bacteria have entered the bloodstream, symptoms usually become more severe. The Sepsis Alliance uses the acronym TIME to describe the symptoms:

  • T: Temperature that is either higher or lower than normal.  
  • I: Infection. There may be symptoms from an MSSA skin infection or other infection. 
  • M: Mental decline. People with bacteremia may be sleepy, confused, or difficult to wake up. 
  • E: Extremely ill. There may be severe pain, discomfort, or shortness of breath. 

Staph bacteremia occurs when MSSA enters the bloodstream. If you develop a staph infection, it is probably from staph bacteria that you’ve been carrying around for a while. Staph bacteria can also be spread from person to person.  

MSSA will survive on objects like pillowcases and towels long enough to infect the next person who touches them. It can also survive stomach acid, drying, and extreme temperatures.  

Several circumstances can increase your risk of developing MSSA infections.

Health conditions

  • Recent hospitalization
  • Diabetes with insulin use
  • Kidney failure requiring dialysis 
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Weakened immune system from illness or medication
  • Transplant
  • Cancer, especially with radiation or chemotherapy
  • Respiratory illness such as emphysema or cystic fibrosis

Medical devices:

  • Intravascular catheters 
  • Urinary catheters
  • Feeding tubes
  • Dialysis tubing 
  • Breathing tubes

Contact sports. Staph bacteria can spread in several ways through contact sports, including:

  • Cuts and abrasions
  • Skin-to-skin contact
  • Shared razors
  • Shared towels and uniforms
  • Shared equipment

Unsanitary food preparation. Staph bacteria can be spread to food if the preparer doesn’t wash their hands. Food that is contaminated with staph looks and smells normal. 

Bacteremia is diagnosed with physical findings including: 

  • Low blood pressure
  • Increased heart rate
  • Fever
  • Difficulty breathing

Doctors will also perform lab tests such as blood cultures to determine whether the bacteremia is caused by MSSA or another type of bacteria or virus. 

When a blood culture tests positive for MSSA bacteremia, a doctor will perform an initial evaluation that may include: 

  • Assessment identifying the source of infection
  • Consulting with an infectious disease specialist
  • Eliminating or debriding (remove damaged tissue) sites of infection
  • Ordering follow-up blood cultures in 2 to 4 days
  • Considering a transesophageal echocardiogram to check heart status
  • Removing any central lines, a type of catheter placed in a large vein, if possible

Intravenous (IV) antibiotics are given to fight the infection. These antibiotics may include: 

  • Cefazolin
  • Daptomycin
  • Nafcillin
  • Oxacillin

Further treatment may be needed, depending on how the bacteremia responds. 

You can use the following precautions to help prevent the spread of staph bacteria.  

Wash your hands. Using soap and water, wash your hands thoroughly before, during, and after making food, after touching animals, after handling raw meat, and after using the bathroom.

Change tampons often. Tampons can provide a breeding ground for staph. Use the lowest absorbency possible and change tampons every 4 to 8 hours. 

Keep wounds covered. Use sterile, dry bandages to cover cuts and abrasions. Pus from sores contains staph bacteria. Covering cuts will keep it from spreading. 

Follow food safety precautions. Handle and store food safely and clean up counters and cutting boards with soap and water. 

Use the hot setting. Wash clothing and bedding in hot water. Use bleach on those materials that are bleach-safe. 

Personal means personal. Don’t share personal items. Keep your towels, sheets, razors, and other personal items separate from others since staph can spread on objects. 

Top Picks

What Is it, What Causes it, and How Is it Treated?

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

  • What Are the Symptoms of MSSA Bacteremia?
  • What Causes MSSA Bacteremia?
  • What Are the Risk Factors for Developing MSSA Bacteremia?
  • How Is MSSA Bacteremia Diagnosed?
  • How Is MSSA Bacteremia Treated?
  • How Can I Prevent MSSA Infections?
  • More

The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph) lives on the skin and in the nose of many people. It usually only causes a problem such as MSSA bacteremia if it gets inside the body.

Staph infections can be either methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible staph (MSSA). MSSA infections are usually treatable with antibiotics. However, MRSA infections are resistant to antibiotics. Many staph infections are mild, but they can also be serious and life-threatening.

MSSA Bacteremia occurs when the MSSA bacteria enter your bloodstream. This is a serious infection that has a high risk of complications and death. Once it’s in the bloodstream, the infection often spreads to other organs and tissues within the body such as the heart, lungs, or brain. 

MSSA bacteremia often starts as an MSSA infection in another part of the body. Many staph infections start on the skin. Symptoms of skin infection can include: 

  • Cellulitis: This causes red, painful, and swollen tissue just under the skin. 
  • Impetigo: This causes fluid-filled blisters to form and burst, leaving behind a brown or yellow crust.  
  • Abscesses: These are also called boils and are painful, red sores under the skin. 
  • Folliculitis: This causes painful, pimple-like sores under the hair follicles. 
  • Staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome (SSSS): This serious infection usually affects infants and young children. It causes the skin to peel off all over the body.  

Once staph bacteria have entered the bloodstream, symptoms usually become more severe. The Sepsis Alliance uses the acronym TIME to describe the symptoms:

  • T: Temperature that is either higher or lower than normal. 
  • I: Infection. There may be symptoms from an MSSA skin infection or other infection. 
  • M: Mental decline. People with bacteremia may be sleepy, confused, or difficult to wake up. 
  • E: Extremely ill. There may be severe pain, discomfort, or shortness of breath. 

Staph bacteremia occurs when MSSA enters the bloodstream. If you develop a staph infection, it is probably from staph bacteria that you’ve been carrying around for a while. Staph bacteria can also be spread from person to person.  

MSSA will survive on objects like pillowcases and towels long enough to infect the next person who touches them. It can also survive stomach acid, drying, and extreme temperatures.  

Several circumstances can increase your risk of developing MSSA infections.

Health conditions

  • Recent hospitalization
  • Diabetes with insulin use
  • Kidney failure requiring dialysis 
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Weakened immune system from illness or medication
  • Transplant
  • Cancer, especially with radiation or chemotherapy
  • Respiratory illness such as emphysema or cystic fibrosis

Medical devices:

  • Intravascular catheters 
  • Urinary catheters
  • Feeding tubes
  • Dialysis tubing 
  • Breathing tubes

Contact sports. Staph bacteria can spread in several ways through contact sports, including:

  • Cuts and abrasions
  • Skin-to-skin contact
  • Shared razors
  • Shared towels and uniforms
  • Shared equipment

Unsanitary food preparation. Staph bacteria can be spread to food if the preparer doesn’t wash their hands. Food that is contaminated with staph looks and smells normal. 

Bacteremia is diagnosed with physical findings including: 

  • Low blood pressure
  • Increased heart rate
  • Fever
  • Difficulty breathing

Doctors will also perform lab tests such as blood cultures to determine whether the bacteremia is caused by MSSA or another type of bacteria or virus. 

When a blood culture tests positive for MSSA bacteremia, a doctor will perform an initial evaluation that may include: 

  • Assessment identifying the source of infection
  • Consulting with an infectious disease specialist
  • Eliminating or debriding (remove damaged tissue) sites of infection
  • Ordering follow-up blood cultures in 2 to 4 days
  • Considering a transesophageal echocardiogram to check heart status
  • Removing any central lines, a type of catheter placed in a large vein, if possible

Intravenous (IV) antibiotics are given to fight the infection. These antibiotics may include: 

  • Cefazolin
  • Daptomycin
  • Nafcillin
  • Oxacillin

Further treatment may be needed, depending on how the bacteremia responds. 

You can use the following precautions to help prevent the spread of staph bacteria.  

Wash your hands. Using soap and water, wash your hands thoroughly before, during, and after making food, after touching animals, after handling raw meat, and after using the bathroom.

Change tampons often. Tampons can provide a breeding ground for staph. Use the lowest absorbency possible and change tampons every 4 to 8 hours. 

Keep wounds covered. Use sterile, dry bandages to cover cuts and abrasions. Pus from sores contains staph bacteria. Covering cuts will keep it from spreading. 

Follow food safety precautions. Handle and store food safely and clean up counters and cutting boards with soap and water. 

Use the hot setting. Wash clothing and bedding in hot water. Use bleach on those materials that are bleach-safe. 

Personal means personal. Don’t share personal items. Keep your towels, sheets, razors, and other personal items separate from others since staph can spread on objects. 

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The doctor told how long a person with “omicron” remains contagious

https://ria.ru/20220201/zaraznost-1770398844.html

“omicron” – RIA Novosti, 01. 02.2022

When a patient with “omicron” ceases to be contagious

In some cases, the PCR test shows a negative result, even if the person has symptoms of infection with “omicron”. Is it worth it to limit contacts RIA Novosti, 01.02.2022

2022-02-01T02:08

2022-02-01T02:08

2022-02-01T03:14

coronavirus spread

society

90 002 health – society

coronavirus covid-19

evgeniy timakov

omicron strain of coronavirus

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MOSCOW, February 1 – RIA Novosti. In some cases, the PCR test shows a negative result, even if the person has symptoms of infection with “omicron”. Is it worth it to limit contacts with other people at the same time, infectious disease specialist Yevgeny Timakov said in an interview with Sputnik radio. -Medicine” Evgeny Timakov. According to him, a negative PCR test result can be explained not only by the absence of coronavirus in the body. For example, this happens when an insufficient amount of material is taken as a sample for research, or when the pathogen has time to leave the nasopharynx and move on. “If a person has a negative test and all signs of the disease, it may be that the analysis was taken incorrectly: or on the wrong day, or not enough material. The Omicron strain can very quickly leave the nasopharynx and not be detected by tests,” Timakov said. The infectious disease specialist advises limiting contact with other people when symptoms of infection appear, even if the analysis shows a negative result. How long to follow safety measures depends on the severity of the disease and on the characteristics of the strain of coronavirus that caused it. “It happens differently for everyone. With previous strains, from ten days to three weeks, a person was contagious, depending on the severity of the condition “And in children, the virus in an active form was isolated from the intestines for more than a month. I have not seen these studies on Omicron yet,” Timakov added. So far, it is clear that active virus shedding with the Omicron strain occurs during the incubation period. The average incubation period is two to three days, respectively, in seven days it will become clear whether a person has a coronavirus or not, “Evgeny Timakov said in an interview with radio Sputnik. To make it easier to endure the disease, you need to be vaccinated, he concluded.

https://radiosputnik.ria.ru/20220131/omikron-1770387630.html

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coronavirus spread, society, health – society, covid-19 coronavirus, evgeny timakov, omicron-strain of coronavirus

Spread of Coronavirus, Society, Health – Society, Coronavirus COVID-19, Evgeny Timakov, Omicron-strain of coronavirus

MOSCOW, February 1 – RIA Novosti. In some cases, the PCR test shows a negative result even if the person has symptoms of omicron infection. Is it worth it to limit contacts with other people, infectious disease doctor Yevgeny Timakov said in an interview with Sputnik radio.

If a person has symptoms of COVID-19, it means that he can transmit the virus to others, said Yevgeny Timakov, infectious disease specialist, vaccinologist, head physician of the Leader-Medicina medical center. According to him, a negative PCR test result can be explained not only by the absence of coronavirus in the body. For example, this happens when an insufficient amount of material is taken as a sample for research, or when the pathogen has time to leave the nasopharynx and move on.

«

“If a person has a negative test and all signs of the disease, it may be that the analysis was taken incorrectly: either on the wrong day, or an insufficient amount of material. The Omicron strain can very quickly leave the nasopharynx and not be detected with tests,” Timakov said.

The infectious disease specialist advises to limit contact with other people when symptoms of infection appear, even if the test shows a negative result. How long to observe safety measures depends on the severity of the disease, and on the characteristics of the strain of coronavirus that caused it.

“This happens differently for everyone. With previous strains, from ten days to three weeks, a person was contagious, depending on the severity of the condition. And in children, the virus was excreted from the intestines in an active form for more than a month. I used these studies on Omicron I haven’t seen it yet,” Timakov added.

In the case of infection with “omicron”, the most active isolation of the virus occurs during the incubation period, the infectious disease specialist continued.

“So far, it is clear that active virus shedding in the Omicron strain occurs during the incubation period. The average incubation period is two to three days, respectively, in seven days it will become clear whether a person has a coronavirus or not,” said Evgeny Timakov in an interview with Sputnik radio.

To make it easier to bear the disease, you need to get vaccinated, he concluded.

Symptoms of “omicron” that do not disappear with recovery are named must remain in quarantine for seven days. If during this time recovery occurs (the symptoms of the disease disappear), the sick leave is closed and the person is allowed to leave self-isolation without conducting a control PCR test. However, recent studies have confirmed that in some cases a person is still contagious seven days after the onset of symptoms.

A team at Imperial College London examined patients with mild COVID-19 to assess how long they remain a source of infection to others. The results of the work, the researchers published in The Lancet

Only in one in five cases, an infected person began to shed the virus before the onset of symptoms of the disease. But with the onset of symptoms, a person became a spreader of infection, and the peak of the number of isolated viruses fell on the third day of the disease. The average duration of contagiousness was 5 days (from 3 to 7 days in most cases). At the same time, two out of three cases were still contagious five days after the onset of symptoms, and one in four remained a source of infection seven days after the onset of the first signs of the disease.

Scientists noted that the tests do not reliably determine the onset of infection, but can be used to safely shorten the period of self-isolation.

Based on the results of the study, the authors recommend isolating people with COVID-19 for at least five days after the onset of symptoms and testing from the sixth day. If the tests give a negative result two days in a row, you can safely leave the isolation. If a person still tests positive, they must remain in isolation, but on the 10th day after the onset of symptoms, quarantine may be ended.

The current advice from the NHS (regulator in the UK) is more lenient than in Russia – Britons should stay at home and avoid contact with other people for only five days.