What is MRSA? Deadly 'superbug' can cause FATAL sepsis and heart infections
MRSA is a strain of bacteria - commonly associated with hospitals - which can be incredibly hard to treat and can even be fatal.
MRSA is a drug-resistant superbug
MRSA, short for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. S. aureus, is a common bacteria which is resistant to widely-used antibiotics.
About 30 per cent of people carry the Staphylococcus aureus - also known as staph - bacteria on skin - or even in the nose - without realising.
However it can invade the body’s bloodstream and release poisonous toxins.
It is most commonly talked about in association with hospitals, and although rates of the infection have fallen it is still a struggle for health services to tackle.
If the infection enters the body it can cause sepsis or pneumonia
However, the bacteria is often called a superbug - because it is is more difficult to treat than other bacterial infections.
MRSA is spread through skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an MRSA infection or has the bacteria on their skin.
The bacteria can also be spread through contact with objects such as towels, sheets, door handles, clothes and surfaces - making it necessary for hospitals to adopt good hygiene practices.
NHS Choices said people staying in hospital are most at risk of becoming infected because of the number of people often with surgical wounds or catheters which are an entry point for bacteria to get in the body.
MRSA infections are treated with antibiotics or a method called decolonisation
Others may have serious health problems and lowered immune systems making them more vulnerable to infections and illness.
It is much less common to be infected with MRSA out of hospital.
The symptoms of the bacterial infection depend on which area of the body is infected.
If the bacteria gets into the body through a wound or a break in the skin, it can cause life-threatening infections such as sepsis or blood poisoning which can cause the organs to shut down.
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It can also cause endocarditis a potentially fatal infection of the inner lining of the heart, commonly caused by bacteria travelling to the heart in the blood.
The bacteria can also cause a rang of other MRSA infections such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, osteomyelitis - an infection of the bone and septic arthritis, a joint infection.
When someone is infected by the bacteria, symptoms can include a high temperature, felling unwell, dizziness, muscles aches, chill and confusion.
If MRSA infects the skin, it can result in a wound infection, boil or abscess.
Hospitals have to adopt strict handwashing to prevent the spread of infection
If it infects the deeper layers of skin, it's known as cellulitis, and infection which causes the skin to become red, hot, swollen and painful.
MRSA infections are treated with antibiotics - but if it is only on the skin experts warn people will need ‘decolonisation’ treatment to get rid of the bacteria.
However, patients who become infected with MRSA in hospital are normally treated in isolation in a bid to stop the bacteria spreading.
This comes after a different strain of the MRSA bacteria has also been found in BRITISH pork sold in supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury's.