Sick baby care

• Call your baby's provider if you think your baby is sick.
• Keep medical supplies on hand at home.
• Ask someone to take care of your baby if you're sick.

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MRSA (pronounced "mersa") is a skin infection that is resistant to some commonly used drugs. "Resistant" means that the infection does not get better once a specific drug is given. MRSA stands for "methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus."
Staphylococcus aureus, also called Staph, is a type of bacteria. It is a common cause of skin infections. Some Staph bacteria, including MRSA, are resistant to certain antibiotics.

About 9 out of 10 MRSA infections are related to health care. Examples: Surgery, kidney dialysis.

Other MRSA infections occur as people go about their daily lives. Examples:

• A towel infected with MRSA touches a scrape on a person's arm.
• An open cut on one person's leg touches a surface (like a weight-training bench) that has the MRSA bacteria on it.

MRSA infections often occur:

• Where there is a cut or scrape
• On a part of the body that is covered by hair, such as the back of the neck

Crowded conditions can help spread MRSA. Examples: School athletic facilities, day care facilities.

Staph infections like MRSA can sometimes cause serious problems. Examples: Pneumonia, infections of the bloodstream.

What can my children and I do to reduce the spread of MRSA?

• Wash your hands often with soap and water. Or use a hand sanitizer that contains alcohol.
• Shower after you exercise.
• Keep cuts and scrapes clean.
• Cover cuts and scrapes with clean, dry bandages until they heal.
• If you have a cut, always put dirty bandages in the trash. Wash your hands after handling dirty bandages.
• Do not touch the cuts or skin infections of other people. Also, do not touch their bandages.
• Do not share personal items that come into contact with skin. Examples: Towels, razors.

When should I be concerned about a skin infection?
Most Staph skin infections are minor and are easily treated. The skin may be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or oozing. The infection may look like a pimple, a boil or a bite.

Important: If a skin infection doesn't get better, call your health care provider. The infection may be MRSA.

How is MRSA treated?

• Most MRSA infections can be treated with antibiotics taken by mouth. If your child has been given an antibiotic, be sure she takes all the doses, unless her health care provider tells her to stop.
• When treating a MRSA infection, the health care provider sometimes cuts open the infected area of the skin, cleans it and drains it.

December 2007