Oh dear! What's MRCA?? I'm so sorry! Don't catch that disease, PLEASE! Don't catch it either Sheriff Huddles! Hope you don't catch it.

I know that it is pretty serious and has shown up in one of the highschools near our house. I just keep making sure that the kids are always washing their hands. Just being really, really clean is about the best and only protection right now.

Are you talking about MRSA? Methacillin Resistant Staph Areus. It is usually only deadly to people with compromised immune systems. Most of the time people who have it don't even know it. They think they have an especially stubborn pimple or boil that won't go away (I'm talking about the community acquired stuff here). I work in a hospital, and we are constantly on the lookout for this little bug. The only thing you can do is WASH YOUR HANDS! After using the toilet, after sneezing (it tends to colonize in the nose and anus), don't worry about antibacterial soaps, plain old soap and water is very good, just wash for the correct amount of time (sing "happy birthday" twice). These are simple precautions, and don't be afraid to go to school.

Yeah. In the middle school there were a lot of rumors too.

It's a big issue going on here too - it's a bug that's been around for many years, it is just getting a lot of media attention right now. What happens is a cut goes from being a cut to really bad, awful looking in just a day or two. It takes a few days for a culture to come back to confirm the diagnosis.

There are many that are carriers of this, it just stays in the nasal canal in most cases and when someone sneezes, it can spread. If you have a cut - cover it, try not to pick at it (I know, sometimes easier said than done). As Sadie said - make sure to wash your hands after using the bathroom, before eating, etc.

There have been more cases diagnosed in my son's high school since Monday's letter they sent home.

Today, I got a letter sent home from Stevie's preschool stating that one of the staff members was diagnosed with it. NOW, Stevie does have a questionable immune system, and I have to wonder if I should let him go in. Even just sending the others in knowing they could possibly get it, and bring it back to their little brother makes my skin crawl.

This is something that is new to our community, and I'm glad it's getting all the media attention...sounds like something that I need to be concerned with!

Doctor Goopy's wife is a nurse (Seana-good friend of mine). He gave me a couple of good sites to go to. The Wikipedia, seemed to be pretty informative, I left a link below for you to click on.

Doctor Goopy :

MSRA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a strain of staphylococcus (Staff infection) that is resistant to most antibiotics. There are also other strains that are referred to by several other acrostic terms. These strains are now classified as Superbugs, and are found worldwide. For many years, staff infections were present in hospitals, the place where folks went to get better from something. In more recent years, stronger antibiotics have yielded stronger bacterial strains. My wife, the Pediatric RN, has talked with me about this at length. We here in the Dallas area have been told it is showing up randomly in gyms, health clubs, and generally wherever people gather in large numbers. For a detailed writeup and/or description, Wikipedia offers a fairly extensive information listing. The CDC also has information concerning these diseases which can be accessed by using their search function.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRSA

Goofo, that would be a good thing to get the student council at your school involved with because it will eventually affect everyone somehow...if you aren't involved with a student council now maybe you know someone who is and can work with the school admin to provide more sanitary bathrooms, lockers rooms and stuff like that.

And, you definitely want to consult his physician. They should be able to help you make a risk assessment. So much harder if you have someone that is already compromised.

Oh my gosh, I hope you're ok!