MRSA

[Cubbest1987]

Moderator: A tangential discussion from the Doxy-PEP topic, on another threat to our health and happiness:

The issue becomes CA-MRSA and it will become a large issue. In the USA/CA/MX regions MRSA is already almost always fully resistant to not only all methicillin, it is resistant to Clindamycin and shows Tetracyclines are becoming much, much weaker on it as a whole if not entirely resistant.  That leaves the only treatments as Bactrim (which is not good at treating SSTIs as it has a hard time going into those areas), Vancomycin which is only IV and will destroy your kidneys if used to often anyways, plus it has a very slow effect, or Linezolid/Zyvox which is a new last line Antibiotic and is almost $1000 a dose AND an MAOI and Bone Marrow suppressant. . That can lead to low blood cell, platelet and plasma levels.    To be truly effective, as it is not bactericidal but bacteriostatic, it needs Rifampin single does put with it and Rifampin is not a drug you want to take unless you're fond of Orange eyes, urine and saliva, all bodily fluids turn orange and the kicker is resistance emerges RAPIDLY to Rifampin

 

We already have Bactrim and Vanco resistant a strains and once you get that it's basically amputation of infected limb or thoughts and prayers.  What really needs to be done is finding a whole new class of antibiotics that function in a new way entirely.  MGO may be a start as it weakens a cell so that it dies in division and doesn't allow it to pass on its genetic information but it's very hard to synthesize or stabilize.  Tetrabactins are being explored but we don't know the long term effects nor their true method of action.  It's great that things are being looked into but it's honestly just trading time in the future for more time today and until something dramatically changes in pharmaceuticals or prescribing, prophylactic antibiotics are not something I think we should be using especially with ones already showing a growing resistance to very, very common (20%-30% of all people colonized by MRSA according to recent data) superbugs AND making the even more deadly and dangerous Gram Negative bacteria (Microbacter and Pseudomonas) able to become resistant and flourish in a depleted microbiome.

 

[BootmanLA]

1 hour ago, Cubbest1987 said:

(20%-30% of all people colonized by MRSA according to recent data)

If I read this correctly, you're saying that between 20 and 30 percent of all people have been infected with MRSA.

What's your source for that? From what I can find, the 30% figure refers to ALL staph infections, not MRSA - which itself is only about 1% of staph infections.

If only 1 of the 30 people with staph have MRSA, and they are less than 1/3 of the population, then the actual rate of MRSA among people is (1/30 * 30/100 = 30/3000, or about 1%.

Not zero, certainly, but 1% of people is a lot smaller than 20-30%.

Source: [think before following links] https://ufhealth.org/news/2021/uf-study-silent-mrsa-carriers-have-twice-mortality-rate-adults-without-bacteria 

 

[Cubbest1987]

10 hours ago, BootmanLA said:

If I read this correctly, you're saying that between 20 and 30 percent of all people have been infected with MRSA.

What's your source for that? From what I can find, the 30% figure refers to ALL staph infections, not MRSA - which itself is only about 1% of staph infections.

If only 1 of the 30 people with staph have MRSA, and they are less than 1/3 of the population, then the actual rate of MRSA among people is (1/30 * 30/100 = 30/3000, or about 1%.

Not zero, certainly, but 1% of people is a lot smaller than 20-30%.

Source: [think before following links] [think before following links] [think before following links] https://ufhealth.org/news/2021/uf-study-silent-mrsa-carriers-have-twice-mortality-rate-adults-without-bacteria 

 

"How Common Is MRSA Colonization? 1-2% of the U.S. population is colonized with MRSA bacteria. However, in specific populations, 20% or more of the individuals are colonized with MRSA."

 

MRSAMD

 

Sorry I should have said there are populations who are at those levels and they are generally those who are in sex work, healthcare and LGBTQ+ and Cishet community for those with multiple partners for casual sex/anonymous sex.  They are not necessarily infected, colonization is different when discussing this.  It means that it lives on their body without having infected the  living tissue.  The anterior nares, perineum, anus and under arms are the most common area for colonization and no method of decolonization has been proved "tried and true". Generally accepted forms are Mupirocin twice daily intranasally with bleach baths twice a week, chlorhexidine body wash daily or every other day if not well tolerated, Iodine Protocol (don't do this without thyroid check first) which is to cover the body in Povidone Iodine for 5-10 min several times a week or a combination of all the above.  The thing with MRSA colonization and MRSA in general is it leaves behind persister cells that lay totally dormant avoiding all bodily and medical treatments for up to 6 months.  You will never be told you are MRSA free until you reach that mark without recurrence or testing finding nothing, some people, a growing number, will never decolonize and it's unknown why at the moment.

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Cubbest1987

[highcountrybb]

I got MRSA from a tiny cut on my elbow. The smallest, most benign cut you ever saw. I don’t even think it bled. Days later, my right arm was purple and the size of a cartoon sledgehammer, with no range of motion. Was super close to being hospitalized until my doctor took measurements and noticed that the swelling was subsiding, and antibiotics working. It was a three month ordeal.
 

I’ve had cancer before but the MRSA experience was way more frightening.

[ellentonboy]

I contracted MRSA in my right big toe.  Initially,  I never knew I had it.  I had tripped over a desk chair in the dark  and thought I had just cracked the toe nail.  But the toe nail never healed.  I went to my infectious disease specialist and he had me in a podiatrist office the next day.  Apparently had I waited longer the result would have been a nightmare.

The podiatrist was incredible, he threatened the company that provides my meds  (WellCare is their name) with a lawsuit if they did not give me the medication in pill form.  He told them I was within days of losing my foot.  If he had not, I would have had to do an intravenous drip for I don't know how long to get better, and there was no guarantee the drip would work in time.  I remember riding home with a friend from Walgreens and I looked at  the cost for a month of the medication (and I am sorry I can't remember the name) was something like $3,300, and this was back around 2010.

But this is the important part of my post.  The podiatrist told me MRSE was everywhere, in a gym shower, on pool surfaces, even "jungle gym" surfaces.   He asked me had I traveled out of the country, and how often, did I walk around the resort without shoes, all of which I answered yes. MRSA seems to like wet, warm areas, at least he thought that was how I came into contact with it.  He told me  he had two kids, like in the 8 to 12 age range, and that their pediatrician informed him that even gym equipment in expensive private schools, their locker rooms, can have MRSA.

I wouldn't even have mentioned it to my primary care physician but I was planning to travel again, be around a pool, and I didn't want people to see my horrible toe.

Glad I am a vain individual, I can't imagine losing a foot.  So for those of you who have read @highcountrybb post he is not kidding, the smallest cut can become gruesome, and if you think you have been exposed to MRSA call your doctor ASAP.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by ellentonboy
wanted to add the name of my insurer

[SpectreAgent]

I contracted MRSA while in hospital for routine treatment in 2019. It nearly killed me and there were four nights when my mother was told they couldn’t guarantee I’d be there the next morning. I actually remember very little about it because it practically put me in a coma. Although I do recall waking up briefly to see the hospital chaplain by my bed. 

So, yeah, it’s a nasty one. 
 

[Guest]

I had cellulites in 2006, My foot swelled up near the toes. I has athletes foot in between my toes and the Dr. thinks that was where it entered. I may have picked it up in the bath house. I was in the hospital for a week on an antibiotic drip.

Also has MRSA about four times, on various parts of my hand and arm. Just like Ellentonboy said, the smallest cut can get infected. I now make sure to cover up everything with a bandaid.

[westendboy]

I got MRSA in December and ended up with an abscess that grew from nothing to massive in just 3 days to the point that it had to be lanced, drained and resulted in a 2.5cm deep wound that took 2 months of 3x weekly nursing care to heal. 

I thought I was out of the woods, but then got infected abscesses on my finger, wrist, knee and again on my buttock. 

Results from MRSA decolonization protocol (bleach bath/chlorhexidine, Mucidin in the nostrils and yet another round of Septra) seem to be positive but I'm nervous this will recur since I have no idea where I got it in the first place.

Please take any swelling seriously even if it seems like just an ingrown hair and get treatment immediately if it worsens rapidly. It's hard to be a slut and a germophobe but I'm trying to adopt better habits like always wearing flipflops in gyms/saunas, washing towels and bedsheets much more frequently and washing hands more often during play.

[BootmanLA]

19 hours ago, westendjock said:

Please take any swelling seriously even if it seems like just an ingrown hair and get treatment immediately if it worsens rapidly. It's hard to be a slut and a germophobe but I'm trying to adopt better habits like always wearing flipflops in gyms/saunas, washing towels and bedsheets much more frequently and washing hands more often during play.

I'm not a gym goer myself any more, but if I were, I'd do what a buddy of mine does. He carries a small flat pack of Clorox or Lysol wipes and wipes down *every padded surface on every machine he uses in the gym - the bench, backrest, any arm/shoulder pads, etc. before using the machine. If someone else "works in", he does it before each set he does. He wears flip flops in the showers, never reuses a gym towel without washing it first, and so forth. Most of that is just common sense. 

As for spas, bathhouses, sex clubs, and the like: unfortunately, there's not a lot  you can do there to kill the germs that exist, as MRSA can persist on surfaces for hours or even days. 

[BootmanLA]

To add back to the MRSA discussion: early in the week I started developing an infected spot on my forehead, which I at first assumed was just a typical pore that got infected with something. I cleaned it out, and within a day the spot had both grown considerably and spread to other locations on my forehead. Urgent Care decided it was better to assume it was something like MRSA and treat it heavily up front than to throw antibiotics at it that were ineffective, so I'm on both an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic ointment.

The good news is that the skin sensitivity in the area is almost back to normal, and the (ultimately) four spots, while ugly and crusting over with blackish residue, seem to be healing up.

All I can figure is that I may have wiped my forehead with something that had staph bacteria on it - and it wasn't at the gym or any other "typical" location, because I hadn't been to any. I probably picked it up on my fingers somewhere, touched a spot on my forehead afterward, and boom.

[ellentonboy]

@BootmanLA - glad to hear you are healing and this didn't manifest into something terrible.  I know some people are not fans of antibiotics, but as you said you are almost back to normal and that's what is most important.  Take care!

[Sfmike64]

MRSAs are nothing to fuck around with. My husband got one in his knee when a clothes hanger at work stabbed him while moving a rack of clothing.

I got one on my scrotum (while partying for several days). Having someone inject lidocaine into my nuts is not my idea of a good time. I had an abcess that had to be drained.

Don't wait GO TO THE DOCTOR if you suspect a skin infection. Especially if you party with crystal. If you do, take a break, take a shower, make your play partners shower, change the sheets on the bed, wash the toys. If they suspect a MRSA they will ask you to take several antibiotics and then stop one or more if your infection is resistant.

[BootmanLA]

19 hours ago, ellentonboy said:

@BootmanLA - glad to hear you are healing and this didn't manifest into something terrible.  I know some people are not fans of antibiotics, but as you said you are almost back to normal and that's what is most important.  Take care!

Thanks - I'm not really "almost back to normal" - just the skin sensitivity on the forehead is (it had gotten very tender over the entire half of my forehead, not just at the four main infected spots). They're still black and ugly but I can tell the treatment is working. I have a good ways to go before I'm back to normal.

Whatever that is. 🙂

 

[westendboy]

My doctor suggested a "decolonization" protocol which consisted of a topical antibiotic cream applied 3x a day for a week with a Q-tip in each nostril and taking either bleach baths (1/4 cup added to the water) or using chlorhexidine body wash for a week, while also on 2 antibiotics. This seems to have worked. I still use the body wash or take the occasional bleach bath if I've spent the better part of a weekend kneeling on a dirty floor or sauna ;)

[FunCheerSlut]

Well, now I am sufficiently and totally freaked out. It sounds like I have been lucky and naive about MRSA.

I recognize that I come into casual contact with a lot of the types of venues described. So thank you for sharing your experiences so that I now know what to be more mindful of and to take as many reasonable precautions as possible. It sounds like everyone's experience has almost been what I would describe as happens-stance. If that makes sense...like almost nothing you could have done or could thought to have done differently [to avoid it]...???

Thank you. I appreciate the warnings and I will do my best to heed them.  xoxo hugs and kisses