SANTEE -- The news that a Virginia teenager died from the staph infection called MRSA strikes fear in the hearts of parents everywhere, and the infection has appeared closer to home with the news of a case in a Manning school.

"MRSA, a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has become a more common problem in the office practice," says Dr. Richard L. Carpenter Jr. of Family Medicine of Elloree & Santee. "This was mostly a hospital setting problem in the past. Staph aureus is a common skin bacteria that up to 30 percent of the population can carry on their skin without any signs or symptoms."

He said MRSA is a staph bacteria that is resistant to the penicillin class of antibiotics, which poses a problem because there are fewer antibiotics available to treat the infection.

"Before the increased prevalence of community-acquired MRSA, most office skin infections were treated presumptively, assuming that the common skin antibiotics would cure common skin infections such as boils or abscesses," Carpenter said. However, because of MRSA, Carpenter said he has changed office practices "in that I have begun to culture almost all infections to double-check bacterial causes and resistance."

"We still start treatment presumptively but do take extra precautions to obtain cultures and to change antibiotics if culture reports indicate the need to do this," he said.

A MRSA infection generally begins as a small, red bump or bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. But these can rapidly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes, the bacteria remain confined to the skin, but they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream heart valves and lungs.

A Mayo Clinic staff report lists the causes of the infection that include unnecessary antibiotic use in humans, antibiotics in food and water, and germ mutation.

Doctors believe decades of excessive and unnecessary use of antibiotics to treat viral infections that normally clear on their own have resulted in the prevalence of the infection. Antibiotics that are fed to cattle, pigs and chickens find their way into municipal water systems when the runoff from feed contaminates streams and groundwater.

Even when antibiotics are used appropriately, the report says, they contribute to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria and don't destroy every germ they target. Bacteria live on an evolutionary fast track, so germs that survive treatment with one antibiotic soon learn to resist others. Because bacteria mutate much more quickly than new drugs can be produced, some germs end up resistant to just about everything, according to the Mayo Clinic report. That's why only a handful of drugs are now effective against most forms of staph.

Isaiah Jones, a 16-year-old high school football player from Sumter, is recovering after his bout with a MRSA infection in his foot that began in August. The problem started with pain in his pinky toe and got progressively worse.

"My whole foot swelled all the way up to the ankle, and there were red streaks radiating from the toe," Jones said.

Doctors told Jones he'd contracted the infection in the locker room.

"Luckily, his infection was able to be treated with antibiotics, but we were concerned that he could either lose his foot or even die from the MRSA infection," his mother said.

Scott Clark of Santee is an assistant JV baseball coach at Holly Hill Academy and head coach for a Harleyville baseball league for 13- to 14-year-olds.

"Local schools and families of students should be aware that bacteria can spread in contact sports like football and basketball and that athletic equipment should not be shared," he said. "We also must emphasize the importance of cleanliness."

A Santee woman, who asked not to be ide.jpgied, contracted a MRSA infection in her big toe at the end of September.

"The first day it looked like a pin dot, but by the second day, the toe was swollen to three times its normal size and was extremely painful," she said. The patient, who was treated by Carpenter, has since recovered, and she recommended anyone with a questionable or painful skin infection to see their physician as soon as possible.

A study by the Mayo Clinic says the main risk factors for acquiring community-acquired MRSA include young age, participating in contact sports and sharing towels or athletic equipment. The bacteria spread easily through cuts and abrasions and skin-to-skin contact. Children and young adults, whose immune systems aren't fully developed, are particularly at risk, as are athletes sharing razors, towels, uniforms or other equipment.

It is recommended that medical advice be sought when minor skin problems -- pimples, insect bites, cuts and scrapes -- become infected, especially in children. Ask to have skin infections tested for MRSA before beginning antibiotic therapy. Drugs that treat ordinary staph aren't effective against MRSA, and their use could lead to serious illness and more resistant bacteria.

Doctors diagnose MRSA by checking a tissue sample or nasal secretions for signs of drug-resistant bacteria. The sample is sent to a lab, where it is placed in a dish of nutrients that encourage bacterial growth. Doctors may drain an abscess rather than treat the infection with drugs. Hospital patients are also tested for hospital-acquired MRSA if they show signs of infection or have a previous history of MRSA.

According to the Mayo Clinic, individuals can protect themselves from community-acquired MRSA by:

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Avoiding the sharing of personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment. MRSA spreads on contaminated objects as well as through direct contact.

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Keeping cuts and abrasions clean and covered with sterile, dry bandages until they heal to prevent the bacteria from spreading.

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Washing your hands.

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Asking your doctor if you should be tested for MRSA if you have a skin infection that requires treatment.

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T&D Correspondent Shirley Upton can be reached by e-mail at writer@ntinet.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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