Superbug risk strikes Hutchinson

It can start with a red bump. If left untreated, it can develop into flu-like symptoms and even death.

It’s MRSA — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — and it’s here in Hutchinson.

“We are starting to see it in our school population,” said Carol Loch, a nurse with Hutchinson School District 423 and West Elementary.

The so-called “superbug” is troubling for a number of reasons. It was first discovered in the 1960s and is a form of bacterium that’s immune to many antibiotics. “There’s a select number of antibiotics that will work on it,” Loch said. “It just depends on which (strain of) bug it is.”

Another reason health professionals are concerned is that MRSA infections are turning up everywhere.

“MRSA is in the community already,” said Kathy Nowak, a public health nurse for McLeod County. “It’s on our hands and our skins. We’ve usually only seen it in the hospitals, (affecting) people with weakened immune systems. Now we’re seeing it in healthy young people.”

“Half of the MRSA cases that we’re seeing now,” she added, “almost half, are community-acquired. It’s everywhere.”

Fighting infection
Fortunately, keeping the bug at bay requires little more than tried-and-true good hygiene. Nowak said a good defense is remembering to wash your hands often and well. “Well” means for 20 seconds, with either soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.

Other tips for fighting MRSA include:
• keeping cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed,
• avoiding contact with other people’s wounds or bandages,
• keeping your hands away from your eyes, nose and ears,
• shower or bathing often with soap,
• not sharing towels, wash cloths, razors, bar soap or other personal items with others,
• keeping your immune system healthy by eating healthily, getting enough sleep and exercising.

For more on what local teachers and athletic coaches are doing to fight the spread of MSRA, see the Leader’s Feb. 14 print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)