Does MRSA attack healthy people and healthy skin?
The answer is yes, because staphylococcus infections are known to affect healthy people and healthy skin. These infections are usually easy to treat, while any activity that promotes breakdown in skin integrity can promote skin infections, including those caused by MRSA. MRSA has been a problem in the healthcare setting for over 20 years. CDC believes that MRSA has been emerging in the community over the last several years. It is difficult to determine whether there is an increase in MRSA disease in the community, or just an increased awareness and recognition of MRSA disease in the world. However, it is clear that some of the recently recognized outbreaks of MRSA are associated with strains that have some unique properties. We might compare this to the traditional hospital-based MRSA strains, suggesting some biologic properties, which may allow the MRSA strains to spread farther or cause more disease. However, these hypotheses need testing and confirmation.
