Parents usually don’t worry over their children’s skinned knees or mosquito bites, but with the number of cases of antibiotic-resistant infections on the rise, they should closely watch even the most minor scrapes, bites and injuries for signs of serious infection.
Incidences of MRSA – or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of staph infection – are increasing and affecting children who are otherwise healthy. MRSA can be difficult to treat because it does not respond to antibiotics such as methicillin and cephalexin, the class of drugs normally used to treat staph infections.
Children infected with MRSA often must be hospitalized and treated with intravenous antibiotics. Though many of the skin infections can be treated with topical antibiotic creams or oral antibiotics, some cases may require surgery. Serious infections can even lead to death.
Last year, of the 1,600 kids seen at Texas Children's with community-acquired S. aureus infections, 1,200 had MRSA," said Dr. Sheldon Kaplan, chief of the Infectious Disease Service at Texas Children’s Hospital. “Sixty-two percent of those children had to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.”
In 2004, 95 percent of MRSA infections treated at Texas Children’s were skin infections. However, MRSA can cause serious and even life-threatening infections.
“MRSA is the most common cause of bone infections, complicated pneumonias and muscle infections at Texas Children’s,” said Kaplan, also a professor and the vice chairman for clinical affairs in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. “It affects all age groups, including infants less than 30 days old.”
The infection almost always is spread by person-to-person contact but can also be spread through indirect contact by touching linens, wound dressings, clothes, workout equipment or other items contaminated by the skin of a person with MRSA.
So, how can parents protect their kids?
“Use common sense,” said Kaplan. “Practice good hygiene. Don’t allow your children to share towels or workout clothes with anyone. And, if he or she has a cut, abrasion or insect bite, keep it clean, dry and covered. If it becomes red, swollen or painful – and especially if your child has a fever – check with your medical provider immediately.”
