Who gets MRSA and how does it spread?
Anybody can get MRSA, but MRSA infections are by far more common among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Less often, MRSA can be acquired in the community. It has been associated with recent antibiotic use, sharing contaminated items, having recurrent skin diseases, and living in crowded settings. Outbreaks of MRSA have been reported among participants in contact sports such as wrestling and rugby. As with other types of staph , MRSA can be spread among people having close contact with colonized or infected people. MRSA is almost always spread by direct physical contact. Spread may also occur through indirect contact by touching objects (e.g., towels, sheets, wound dressings, clothes, workout areas, or sports equipment) contaminated by a person colonized or infected with MRSA.
Anybody can get MRSA, but MRSA infections are by far more common among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Less often, MRSA can be acquired in the community and has been associated with recent antibiotic use, sharing contaminated items, having recurrent skin diseases, and living in crowded settings. Outbreaks of MRSA have been reported among injection drug users, jail inmates, and participants in contact sports such as wrestling and rugby. As with other types of S. aureus, MRSA can be spread among people having close contact with colonized or infected people. MRSA is almost always spread by direct physical contact and not through the air. Spread may also occur through indirect contact by touching objects (e.g., towels, sheets, wound dressings, clothes, workout areas, or sports equipment) contaminated by a person colonized or infected with MRSA.
