It is quite safe for your family and friends to visit you. Visitors should always wash their hands before entering your room and again when they leave.
You, your family or visitors should not assist other patients with personal care. Carrying MRSA on your skin will not affect other family members or friends, provided you have good hygiene practices. Hand hygiene is very important in stopping the spread of MRSA. MRSA can survive for long periods on surfaces such as table tops and chairs, so it is important to keep your environment clean.
This publication is provided for education and information purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not imply endorsement and is not intended to replace advice from your healthcare professional. Readers should note that over time currency and completeness of the information may change.
All users should seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional for a diagnosis and answers to their medical questions. Skip to navigation Skip to main content Site map Accessibility Contact us. Search this site Search all sites Search. Go to whole of WA Government Search. Open search bar Open navigation Submit search. Health conditions. Facebook Youtube Twitter. Up to one in every 30 people are colonized with MRSA, meaning they carry it on their skin.
In a hospital setting, you are surrounded by a large number of people, including patients, nurses, doctors, and visitors who could all be carriers. There may even be patients who are in the hospital because of MRSA. So, if a person carrying MRSA visits the hospital, shakes the hand of a nurse, and the nurse forgets to wash his hands before changing a bandage, that person has been put at risk for MRSA and could develop an infection.
The MRSA carrier could easily come into contact with a patient at risk and transfer it directly. MRSA is a type of bacteria that's resistant to several widely used antibiotics. This means infections with MRSA can be harder to treat than other bacterial infections. You might have heard it called a "superbug". MRSA infections mainly affect people who are staying in hospital. They can be serious, but can usually be treated with antibiotics that work against MRSA. MRSA lives harmlessly on the skin of around 1 in 30 people, usually in the nose, armpits, groin or buttocks.
This is known as "colonisation" or "carrying" MRSA. Getting MRSA on your skin will not make you ill, and it may go away in a few hours, days, weeks or months without you noticing. But it could cause an infection if it gets deeper into your body.
Healthy people, including children and pregnant women, are not usually at risk of MRSA infections. Having MRSA on your skin does not cause any symptoms and does not make you ill. You will not usually know if you have it unless you have a screening test before going into hospital. If you need to go into hospital and it's likely you'll be staying overnight, you may have a simple screening test to check your skin for MRSA before you're admitted.
This is normally done at a pre-admission clinic or a GP surgery.
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