MRSA testing San Diego has a lot of misconceptions. We are concerned about the lack of understanding on how to deal with methicillin resistance. Staphylococcus aureus within the medical industry and the myths about these types of bacteria are perpetuated not just by the media but also by medical organizations and doctors. There has been a lot of hype and coverage in the media recently about the outbreak of MRSA affecting hospitals, locker rooms of sports teams and even prisons.

Although this coverage has highlighted the significance of the problem and the need for improved therapy and control, it has also shown the need for a better understanding of this disease, by both the general public and health care professionals. As this epidemic has evolved, a lot of misconceptions regarding MRSA have emerged. Here are some of these misconceptions.

Methicillin resistance makes staphylococci more destructive and dangerous

This is just a misconception and the fact is that methicillin resistance and all the genes that cause resistance aren’t virulence factors. They are therapy factors. MRSA has an increased fatality rate that may reflect poor antibiotic prescription decisions and use. However, there is no clear evidence that resistance to methicillin causes more diseases.

MRSA is aggressive and this aggressiveness represents the virulence factors that run with the resistance of methicillin such as PVL. It seems that methicillin resistance is a marker and not a virulence factor. This is true with MMSA strains which can be active and carry virulence factors. Coagulase-negative staphylococci are resistant to methicillin without being virulent.

All MRSA should be treated with antibiotics

This is another misconception about MRSA testing and treatment. Although reflect antibiotics use is nearly universal for MRSA, it may not be reasonable. Research suggests that MRSA can colonize people without any apparent disease the same way MSSA does. It may be considered a normal constituent of our microflora. According to a recent study that was carried out by Hawaii microbiology students, one-third of them were colonized with S. Aureus and five percent were colonized with MRSA. All the students didn’t have any symptoms. Bigger studies have demonstrated that nearly one-third of the population carries the S. Aureus in and around their nose without showing any symptoms.

Not only must we know that staphylococci are part of our normal flora, but we should also know that using antibiotics to treat them will increase the prevalence of resistant strains. This relationship was shown in the handling of an outbreak of MRSA among the St. Louis Rams players. The players had been given ten times the number of antibiotics per year than the average people.

New and better antibiotics should be used

Some people believe that after MRSA testing San Diego comes out positive, the best way is to use stronger antibiotics to treat it. The truth is that staphylococcus is resistant to most antibiotics and there are staphylococci that have developed resistance to all antibiotics. While new antibiotics are being developed, it is difficult to determine their safety and it is expensive to develop and try new antibacterial.