Last year, an unwelcome visitor—methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)—made its infectious way through a portion of Ursinus’ student body. On October 2, 2009, MRSA awareness went global; the MRSA Survivors Network declared it World MRSA Day, an event created to spread the knowledge that MRSA is a serious and potentially fatal infection.
World MRSA Day was launched with an International Press Conference at Loyola University in Chicago, IL on the previous day. According to World MRSA Day’s official Web site, the October 2 event would “give survivors a voice,” allowing them to share their stories in an effort to raise awareness. A candlelight vigil was held in Salt lake City, UT, for those whose lives were taken by MRSA, and a collage was compiled from photos sent by families of deceased victims.
The day’s activities were arranged by the MRSA Survivors’ Network, an organization begun in 2003 by MRSA survivor Jeanine Thomas that is dedicated to raising awareness, to educating, and to preventing MRSA infections worldwide by promoting collective efforts toward ending the disease, according to World MRSA Day’s Web site. “The hundreds of thousands of lost souls who were allowed to slip away…haunted me,” Thomas says, “and I wanted their deaths to be not in vain.” A United Kingdom organization, MRSA Action UK, worked with the MRSA Survivors’ Network to promote the event. Their Web site explains that October 2 was chosen in honor of the date on which MRSA was discovered in London in 1961, though awareness efforts extend throughout October as World MRSA Awareness Month.
Thomas, also a national spokesperson, expert, and consultant on MRSA, has even turned to the White House for support. In a letter featured on the MRSA Survivors’ Network Web site, President Obama addresses her suggestion for increased MRSA hospital infection research funding, which would seek prevention of MRSA contraction due to individuals’ hospital visits for other problems. He writes, “This is simply unacceptable, and perhaps greater transparency of hospital infection rates would…incentivize hospitals to clean up their act. I hope that the Federal and State governments will make addressing this public health concern a greater priority.”
The goal of October’s events raises an interesting query; do people understand how serious MRSA is? During the outbreak on campus last year, students—especially athletes and athletic-facility users—were exposed to emails and flyers that warned against MRSA’s risks and offered prevention tips. Many, however, were more disgusted by the disease than afraid that it could take their lives. Sophomore Andrea DeToro says, “Sports like wrestling or gymnastics involve mats that a lot of people share. I figured that if one of my teammates got it, we all probably would. Gross."
Students are not alone in underestimating MRSA’s dangers. The Mayo Clinic Web site explains that a strain of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus emerged years ago in hospitals, where doctors learned of its resistance to the antibiotics being used to treat it. As it became prevalent in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, many believed that MRSA was nonexistent elsewhere. By 1990, community-associative MRSA—that which evolved beyond health care facilities—was known, and its occurrence is progressing.
Patricia Devlin, registered nurse and mother of a football player who contracted MRSA due to teammates being inappropriately prescribed antibiotics, explained in an interview, “The hospital had us read extensively and perform skills labs dealing with MRSA. It’s rising in the community, especially in athletics, in fitness facilities where towels and equipment are shared, and in people with weakened immune systems.” She also reveals that, like many sexually transmitted infections (STIs), MRSA carriers are not necessarily symptomatic; outbreaks may only show up in those to whom they spread the infection.
The Mayo Clinic’s Web site suggests washing hands carefully, avoiding sharing personal items, covering wounds, showering after practices, sitting an athletic event out if you suspect infection, getting tested, and taking antibiotics appropriately. The measures are preventative efforts to consider whether you’re concerned that your classmate or teammate might be a carrier or you simply want to acknowledge World MRSA Awareness Month in honor of the millions taken by the disease.
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