MRSA Infection and Contact Precautions

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a Gram-positive bacterium that has acquired resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. That resistance changes antibiotic selection; it does not, by itself, determine how sick the patient is. MRSA can be present on the body without causing illness, or it can invade tissue and produce a local or systemic infection. Colonization is carriage without clinical infection. Infection produces tissue injury and inflammation. In a wound, this may appear as increasing pain, erythema, warmth, swelling, purulent drainage, or delayed healing. Fever, rigors, malaise, or a rising heart rate suggest a broader inflammatory response. A screening swab that detects MRSA is therefore not the same as proof that MRSA is causing a patient’s fever or wound findings. Transmission is primarily by direct skin-to-skin contact or by contact with contaminated surfaces, clothing, equipment, or hands. The practical implication is straightforward: prevent the organism from travelling on hands and clothing between the patient, the environment, and other patients. Gloves and gowns create a barrier, but they do not replace hand hygiene.