Q&A for How to Get Rid of MRSA

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I have MRSA. Should I ask my doctor about a cure?

Janice Litza, MD
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician
Dr. Litza is a Board Certified Family Medicine Physician based in Racine, Wisconsin. With over 25 years of educational and professional experience, she has extensive experience providing full-spectrum Family Medicine, including obstetrics, newborn care, and hospital medicine. She is currently the Residency Program Director for Family Medicine at Ascension. Dr. Litza received her MD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and has completed additional fellowship training in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona.

Janice Litza, MD

Board Certified Family Medicine Physician

Expert Answer

Depends on how you have been diagnosed. If you had a sore and completed treatment and you are doing well, then there is often nothing more to do other than monitor for a recurrence. MRSA may live on your body, colonized, for months or years even with treatment, so the best approach is good hygiene and monitoring so the bacteria doesn’t start to grow where your body can’t handle it (open sores on skin, for example).

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Question

Can MRSA be cured?

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD
Board Certified Pathologist
Dr. Ziadie is a board certified Pathologist in South Florida. She specializes in renal, transplant, and pediatric Pathology and has over 12 years of experience. She earned her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 2004 and completed her fellowship in Pediatric Pathology at Children’s Medical Center in 2010.

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD

Board Certified Pathologist

Expert Answer

MRSA infections can be cured but they require long courses of antibiotics. Surgical treatment of skin infections ("incision and drainage") may also be required.

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Question

Once you are diagnosed with MRSA do you always have it?

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD
Board Certified Pathologist
Dr. Ziadie is a board certified Pathologist in South Florida. She specializes in renal, transplant, and pediatric Pathology and has over 12 years of experience. She earned her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 2004 and completed her fellowship in Pediatric Pathology at Children’s Medical Center in 2010.

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD

Board Certified Pathologist

Expert Answer

You can get rid of MRSA, but it is a long process that includes environmental disinfection and a long course of antibiotics. Many people are carriers of the bacteria (their body allows it to live on its surface without really causing an infection) and can spread the bacteria to others who may be more susceptible (elderly people, children, people with HIV or other illnesses, etc). If you have been identified as a carrier, ask your healthcare provider to give you instructions on how to reduce your risk to others.

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Question

How likely is it for a small child to get MRSA?

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD
Board Certified Pathologist
Dr. Ziadie is a board certified Pathologist in South Florida. She specializes in renal, transplant, and pediatric Pathology and has over 12 years of experience. She earned her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 2004 and completed her fellowship in Pediatric Pathology at Children’s Medical Center in 2010.

Mandolin S. Ziadie, MD

Board Certified Pathologist

Expert Answer

Small children are especially susceptible to all kinds of infections, since their immune systems (the cells in the body that fight infections) are not yet fully developed.

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Question

I had severe MRSA and VRE a few years ago and I am wondering if it's an on going issue, or does it go away? If I am back in the hospital they still treat me as though I may have it and I'm contagious. Does this mean I will always have it?

Janice Litza, MD
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician
Dr. Litza is a Board Certified Family Medicine Physician based in Racine, Wisconsin. With over 25 years of educational and professional experience, she has extensive experience providing full-spectrum Family Medicine, including obstetrics, newborn care, and hospital medicine. She is currently the Residency Program Director for Family Medicine at Ascension. Dr. Litza received her MD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and has completed additional fellowship training in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona.

Janice Litza, MD

Board Certified Family Medicine Physician

Expert Answer

Once you have been in the hospital and tested positive or treated, more aggressive hand hygiene and contact precautions are initiated to prevent spread. People can stay colonized for months to years and so every time they go into hospital, they will be put on precautions and tested until it comes back negative.

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