How is mrsa diagnosed

If left untreated, a MRSA infection can lead to serious illness or death. This test is most often used to find out if you have a MRSA infection. The test may also be used to see if treatment for a MRSA infection is working. You may need this test if you have symptoms of a MRSA infection. Symptoms depend on where the infection is located. Most MRSA infections are in the skin, but the bacteria can spread to the bloodstream, lungs, and other organs.

A MRSA infection on the skin may look like a type of rash. A MRSA rash looks like red, swollen bumps on the skin. Some people may mistake a MRSA rash for a spider bite.

The infected area may also be:. A health care provider will take a fluid sample from your wound, nose, blood, or urine. Steps may include the following:. After your test, your sample will be sent to a lab for testing. Most tests take hours to get results. That's because it takes time to grow enough bacteria to be detected.

The test, which is done on nasal swabs, can find MRSA bacteria in as little as five hours. You may feel a little pain when a sample is taken from a wound.

A nasal swab may be slightly uncomfortable. These effects are usually mild and temporary. There is very little risk to having a blood test. You may have slight pain or bruising at the spot where the needle was put in, but most symptoms go away quickly. Boils are painful, red bumps on the skin that are caused by bacteria.

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But it can also expose you to viruses and bacteria that they…. MRSA is a type of staph infection. While most people recover from MRSA infections, for some people, the infection becomes very serious and can be life-. The signs of infection after surgery need immediate treatment.

Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Medically reviewed by Carissa Stephens, R. What is MRSA? What does MRSA look like? What are the different types of MRSA? What are the symptoms of MRSA? How is MRSA diagnosed? How is MRSA treated? How can MRSA be prevented?

Read this next. Athletes, daycare and school students, military personnel in barracks, and those who receive inpatient medical care or have surgery or medical devices inserted in their body are at higher risk of MRSA infection.

Vital Signs: Staph infections can kill [ Mins] external icon. MRSA is usually spread in the community by contact with infected people or things that are carrying the bacteria. This includes through contact with a contaminated wound or by sharing personal items, such as towels or razors, that have touched infected skin. The opioid epidemic may also be connected to the rise of staph infections in communities. People who inject drugs are 16 times more likely to develop a serious staph infection.

More about injection drug use and risk of infection on this factsheet pdf icon [PDF — 2 pages]. The symptoms of a MRSA infection depend on the part of the body that is infected.

For example, people with MRSA skin infections often can get swelling, warmth, redness, and pain in infected skin. In most cases it is hard to tell if an infection is due to MRSA or another type of bacteria without laboratory tests that your doctor can order.

Some MRSA skin infections can have a fairly typical appearance and can be confused with a spider bite. However, unless you actually see the spider, the irritation is likely not a spider bite. Most S. During treatment, you may need to stay in your own room or in a ward with other people who have an MRSA infection to help stop it spreading. You can normally still have visitors, but it's important they take precautions to prevent MRSA spreading.

If you're staying in hospital, there are some simple things you can do to reduce your risk of getting or spreading MRSA.

If you're visiting someone in hospital, clean your hands before and after entering the ward and before touching the person. Gel or wipes are often placed by patients' beds and at the entrance to wards. It's also a good idea to put a dressing over any breaks in your skin, such as sores or cuts, to stop MRSA getting into your body. Get more advice about visiting someone in hospital.

This video explains how MRSA is caught, what happens when you have it and how to prevent infection. Page last reviewed: 24 March Next review due: 24 March You can get MRSA on your skin by: touching someone who has it sharing things like towels, sheets and clothes with someone who has MRSA on their skin touching surfaces or objects that have MRSA on them Getting MRSA on your skin will not make you ill, and it may go away in a few hours, days, weeks or months without you noticing.