Question

Why is MRSA commonly in prisons and hospitals rather than anywhere else?

Answer 1

MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus which is a gram positive bacteria is a major concern in treating infections as it is resistant to beta lactam antibiotics like methicillin, oxacillin, cephalosporins like cephems.

It may not be severe if promptly identified and treatment given with glycopeptide antibiotics like Vancomycin and Teicoplanin. More resistant strains can be treated with Linezolid, quinupristin/dalfopristin, daptomycin, ceftaroline and tigecycline.

Now that we have known about the MRSA, let us have a light on the question under study why is MRSA infection more common in prisons and hospitals?

Let us have a look at the following table to have straight answers:

MRSA is spread by	Hospitals	Prisons
Direct contact through skin	Many people (even the health care personnel) carry the bacteria with or without developing symptoms. Since, injuries, open wounds, surgeries (which are common in hospitals) bypass the primary line of defense (skin) bacteria from the carrier can enter into the circulation	Overcrowding in prison, lack of proper personal hygeine would lead to transmitting of bacterium from carrier to the susceptible individual
Contaminated fomites	IV catheters, needles, scalpels, endoscope tubes etc if not properly sterilized may serve as source of infection and spread of MRSA	Towels, blades, razors and other utensils or articles when exchanged and used among the inmates may lead to spread of infection
OverCrowding	Overcrowding of the patients, hospital serving as host for illness may serve as sink for bacterium	Too many inmates in the jail may account for spread of infection
Cuts, Bruises and Scrapes	Operations, incisions, invasive procedures expose the skin and may lead to infection	Routine works, legal punishments, riots or prison fights may lead to wounds which serve as source of infection
Cleanliness	Lack of air sterilization, Improper disinfection, inefficient disposal of infected surgical dressings, exposure to skin exudates (pus, fluids) containing bacterium	Lack of proper cleaning resources, inadequate hygeine in the prisons may lead to infections with MRSA

Prevention: Maintainence of proper hygeine, frequent and thorough washing with soap, hand sanitizers, early identification of infection, providing education etc can help avoid the dreaded infections.