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My grandfather has MRSA, how contagious is he? I have two children and we visit him quite often at his house. He uses central airconditioning, so the house only gets aired out when the door is opened.

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Female , Age: 41

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hand washing constantly

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MRSA is a strain of Staph aureus (the bacteria that causes most skin infections) that is resistant to most antibiotics. It was originally isolated only in hospital from people who had been on lots of antibiotics. Now more people in the general population are diagnosed with MRSA.

I would agree with handwashing, and cleaning any cut/scrapes they get with soap and water (peroxide is a very poor antiseptic and actually can delay wound healing)
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html

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Reply to Family Physician's Post: if the children are younger than 3 and or sick, are they at risk

If the children are sick - I would not have them around your grandfather - he is likely to pick up their infections/colds and they are more likely to pick something up when they are sick.

I really don't think MRSA is something that most people should get overly concerned with - good personal hygeine, hand washing etc are reasonable precautions. Obviously I would keep them away if he was "sick" - coughing/vomitting etc - just like you normally would keep children away from anyone who was "sick". Also, if the MRSA is in a wound, they should not be around the dressings when they are getting changed.

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Relist: I still need help.
Is MRSA airborne and do I have to wear protective clothing or a mask when at his house. My daughter Jamie is 2 1/2 and doesn't understand that she can't touch Pop or his things and my son is going on 9 and typical boy hates washing his hands and doesn't comprehend why he can't use Pop's bathroom.

Where is the MRSA - does he have a wound? Has he been treated for the MRSA?

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Reply to Family Physician's Post: The infection is supposedly in his blood stream and they have been treating him with antibiotics during his stay at a rehab for 2 weeks and he was just back in the hospital for 5 days. They sent him home with a prescription of Ceftin (?)to take for the next 7 days. The nurses at the hospital were not very helpful. He doesn't have anyone to help him with his errands and setting up his meds besides me. I worry about myself and my children. I also worry very much about him because he has CHF and COPD. He had a very bad septsia infection about 6 weeks prior that almost killed him. His dr. went on vacation and I wasn't able to ask him any further questions. I am really worried...

You should check with the doctor (or the doctor covering for him) if you could get visiting nurses (home health care) to come in to help him.

The fact that the infection was in the blood stream, as opposed to an open wound, makes it much less likely that the children would "pick it up"

Here is a list of some home health agencies in NJ
http://www.vnaa.org/vnaa/Searches/findVNA.aspx?k=NJ

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