Do you know why more hospitals are doing MRSA testing Los Angeles now than before? This is mainly because strains of MRSA that cause healthcare-associated infections are resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents such as clindamycin, erythromycin, and fluoroquinolones, whilst strains causing infections that are community-associated are often resistant to erythromycin and fluoroquinolones occasionally. MRSA strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin and strains fully resistant to vancomycin have been reported since 1996.

MRSA bacteria

MRSA bacteria are very different from other staph bacteria. With a normal staph infection, health professionals use antibiotics to kill disease-causing bacteria or/and prevent them from growing. On the other hand, in MRSA infection, the antibiotics used to treat infections do not work. This is because the bacteria aren’t killed. They continue to grow. When common antibiotics do not work on bacterial infections, it is professionally known as being antibiotic resistant.

The resistance makes it hard to treat some types of bacterial infections. Each year, nearly three million people in the US are infected with bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. More than 35000 people are killed from the infections.

MRSA infections in the past happened in hospital patients. However, it has become worse because MRSA is common in healthy people. This infection can spread from one person to another. It can also spread through contact with contaminated objects. It isn’t spread through the air like the flu virus or cold.

But you can get it if you share items such as a razor or towel with an infected person. You can also get infected if you have personal contact or close contact with an individual who has an infected wound and this can happen when crowds or large groups of people come close. This is why MRSA testing is done in locker rooms, college dorms, military barracks and other crowded places and not just in hospitals.

MRSA tests look for MRSA bacteria in samples from the nostril, a wound, or other body fluid. The test can be treated with powerful antibiotics. If you leave it untreated then the infection will lead to a very serious illness or death.

What are they used for?

MRSA tests are most often used to find if one has an MRSA infection. These tests can also be used to see if medication for MRSA infection works.

Why do you need to test?

You may need to test if you have symptoms of an infection. Symptoms of MRSA infection depend on where the infection is located and most infections are in the skin. However, the bacteria can also spread to the lungs, bloodstream and other organs in the body.

An MRSA infection on the skin looks like a type of rash. The rash looks like swollen bumps on the skin and they are red in color. Some people mistake the rash for a spider bite. Symptoms of an MRSA infection in the bloodstream may include chills, fever, headache and MRSA rash.  Since these symptoms are similar to symptoms of other diseases, MRSA testing Los Angeles is necessary to ascertain infection.