Mercer's disease - Any experiences

[Heidict]

We found out that our nephew has Mercer's disease, he is 13. We were supposed to drive out to see them in a few weeks, but I'm leary from all that I'm am reading on the internet. They are saying that it is MRSA. That alone is making me not want to go.

I wanted to know if there was anyone who had experiences with Mercers. Is it as bad as they are making it sound? Is it best for us not to go? If we go, is there anything that we can do to protect ourselves aside from the obvious of hand washing and being careful around him?

 

[minkydog]

From what I can tell with a quick Google so-called "mercers disease" is actually MRSA--methicillin resistant staph aureus. There are a few types of staph infections. This one is not susceptible to the usual antibiotics. Methicillin is a very powerful antibiotic which can kill most bacteria. If methicillin won't kill it then it's much harder to fight. They have to use extremely powerful, more serious drugs and even then sometimes it's hard to get rid of the MRSA infection.

MRSA is pretty serious. It is easily spread within families, athletes, prisoners, daycares and anywhere else were people live closely together and may share facilities. Casual contact usually won't infect you. For instance, if you go visit the family and you don't hug or kiss the one who is infected, you wouldn't have a high likelihood of getting it. If you get into the hot tub with him or share clothes, however, all bets are off. It really depends on how successfully the infection has been treated and whether the site can be covered in such a way as to discourage contamination. If you're not due to visit for several weeks I'd take a wait and see approach. Things could be much different then after he has had weeks of antibiotics.

 

[kim929]

When my dh was in the hospital for a month and a half, he contracted it. I couldn't bring our son to visit anymore since he was only 1. When we went in the room we had to "suit up" disposable gown, mask, gloves.

How old is he? What kind does he have? How long has he had it? Is it possible that he would have his 3 neg test before your suppose to arrive?

 

[Acklander]

I had it about 3.5 years ago. It was pretty brutal going through it and took forever for the all clear. No one in my family got it, and they just did the "normal" stuff like washing hands.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm a nurse and exposed to it literally every day. Probably 1/2 the people you encounter on a day-to-day basis have MRSA colonized in their system...heck, you probably don't want to do a culture swab of my nose...God only knows what's in there!

There's no reason not to go. Just wash your hands, and if he has an area that is draining or something, stay away form it unless you have on gloves.

 

[Heidict]

He is 11 years old and was diagnosised about 2 weeks ago. They are treating it with antibiotics and hoping that it will work.

So, after lots of research and discussion with my DH we have decided we are going. Since we are going for a wedding and no kids are invited, our DD will stay home and stay with family and we will go alone. Also, we will be staying at a hotel, so no worries about being in the house, we will probably just see him at the wedding.

I really wanted to go because we haven't seen them in a while and I felt horrible canceling out on them. We will just remember to wash our hands and be aware of things. Should be okay though because the contact will be very limited.

Thanks for all your help guys. I feel better about going. Orginally I refused because the whole MRSA thing had me paraniod (and that is really unlike me). All I kept remember is the headlines from a few years ago "flesh eating disease".

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We found out that our nephew has Mercer's disease, he is 13. We were supposed to drive out to see them in a few weeks, but I'm leary from all that I'm am reading on the internet. They are saying that it is MRSA. That alone is making me not want to go.

I wanted to know if there was anyone who had experiences with Mercers. Is it as bad as they are making it sound? Is it best for us not to go? If we go, is there anything that we can do to protect ourselves aside from the obvious of hand washing and being careful around him?

I think someone mentioned it upthread, but it's not "Mercer's". It's MRSA that sounds like Mercer when you prounounce it.

Anyway, there are two types: hospital aquired (HA MRSA) and community aquired MRSA (CA MRSA). The CA type is usually the less serious of the two. http://dermatology.about.com/od/infectionbacteria/a/mrsa.htm

You didn't say whether you're generally healthy or whether you're staying overnight in the house with them, etc. That could make a difference if, say, you're chronically ill, immunocompromised or have open wounds yourself.

To answer your question, if you're healthy and planning to just have casual contact, you should be fine around him, especially if you're going in a few weeks. Presumably he'd have completed his antiobiotic course (they are usually given two types of oral antibiotics) and the wound itself covered over by then. It's always a good idea to not share towels, and if you have any open wounds or scratches yourself, you might want to put a little bacitracin on them and cover with a bandaid while you're there.

ETA started this post a while ago and didn't see your update. Staying in a hotel I wouldn't even worry about it. Have a good time.

 

[momof5boys]

I agree with Disney doll. I am also a nurse in an ER I'm exposed to it every day, definately not a big deal. Most of the time MRSA is nothing more than a small skin infection, most people think it's a "spider bite" since it usually looks like a small pimple. Easily treated with antibiotics. Unless you are planning on rubbing yourself on the kid's infection it shouldn't be a problem! Mrsa in the sputum is a little tricker but usually only happens to people on ventilators so I wouldn't worry about that! As with any bacteria you will hear horror stories, any "normally occuring " bacteria can be a problem but MRSA just gets the news stories!

 

[bookgirl]

I did therapy with an autistic boy and his dad and brother both had MRSA. You'll be fine, wash your hands often expecially if he's touched whatever you're touching. Also avoid things like dishtowels. MRSA likes damp cloth and will stick around on it for a while. Only use papertowels or hand towels that are fresh from the linen closet.