Staph Infection Slideshow Pictures MRSA Slideshow Pictures Take the MRSA Quiz!

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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MRSA Infection Symptoms and Signs

Symptoms of MRSA infections are variable; however, pus production is often found in the infected area. Classic examples of pus-containing areas in patients are boils (pus in hair follicles), abscesses (pus collected underneath the skin), carbuncles (large abscesses with pus draining), sty (pus in the eyelid gland), and impetigo (pus in blisters on the skin). Cellulitis (infection under the skin or fatty tissue) usually does not have pus but begins with small red bumps on skin, sometimes with itching, and also may be due to MRSA. These symptoms are most often found in CA-MRSA but can also be found in HA-MRSA. When antibiotic therapy fails, CA- and HA-MRSA should be considered as a potential cause of infection.

Figure 1: MRSA infection on the leg. SOURCE: CDC

HA-MRSA infections are usually suspected when the hospitalized patient develops signs of sepsis (fever, chills, low blood pressure, weakness, and mental deterioration), even if the patient is being treated with an antibiotic. CA-MRSA patients who develop sepsis or pneumonia (lung infection) need immediate hospitalization. However, hospitalized patients do not need to have a primary site of MRSA infection, only a site where MRSA can invade (invasive or serious MRSA) and proliferate (for example, any surgical site, IV site, or site of an implanted device). Consequently, symptoms of pus production or signs of sepsis in any hospitalized patient, especially those with immune compromise (for example, HIV, cancer, or the elderly) could be due to MRSA.