What places in the community can you find high incidences of MRSA ?

Outbreaks of MRSA infections are seen regularly in hospitals and healthcare facilities.  Nursing homes or long-term care facilities tend to experience even higher rates of reported cases of MRSA.

People who are treated in hospitals with broad spectrum antibiotics known as quinolones, are also at greater risk of contracting MRSA.  Unfortunately, hospital facilities provide numerous opportunities for Staphylococcus aureus bacteria to come into contact with a broad range of antibiotics and, through genetic change and survival, go on to develop resistance to many of them.

The use of catheters or intravenous drips in patients can allow MRSA to infiltrate the body through their entry point into the skin.

It can be common for MRSA to be transmitted from the health care provider to the patient.  This can happen, for example, when healthcare providers move about from one patient to another without them routinely undertaking necessary hand-washing techniques between patients.

Hospitals often have patients in close proximity to each other.  This closeness increases the possibility of MRSA spreading and infecting other patients.  Where patients are hospitalized in separate rooms the risk of MRSA infection is reduced.

Prisons and detention centers suffer from overcrowding and have witnessed a rise in the number of cases where inmates or detainees have been diagnosed with MRSA.

In gyms and locker rooms the number of reported outbreaks of MRSA have been on the rise.  It is believed that MRSA colonization and infection through skin contact in these locations is to blame.

MRSA has also become more prevalent in pediatric environments including hospital nurseries and child care facilities.