MRSA INFECTION IN CHILDCARE
MRSA can be found in childcare settings. As a provider, you should be aware of what MRSA is, how it is spread, and steps you can take to prevent it.
WHAT IS MRSA?
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that is resistant to several antibiotics. According to the CDC, the Staphylococccus aureus (staph) bacteria are commonly found in the nose and on the skin of healthy people. When staph is present on or in the body without causing illness, this is called colonization. Staph with resistance to some antibiotics (e.g., methicillin) are known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). When bacteria are resistant to an antibiotic it means that the antibiotic will not kill the bacteria. MRSA was first identified in healthcare facilities. MRSA is now being seen among young healthy people in the community; this is referred to as community-acquired MRSA.
Because MRSA has been found in childcare settings, you should be aware of what MRSA is and how it is spread. If you suspect or learn that a child in your care has a MRSA skin infection:
• Ask the parents to contact the child’s doctor
• Frequently inspect bandages covering the wound, and change them before drainage is visible through the bandage. Dispose of the used bandage in a closed waste receptacle. After applying clean bandage, remove and dispose of the gloves, and again wash your hands thoroughly.
• Wash the infected child’s clothes, linens, and towels daily and never share them with other children.
• Make sure that everyone in your childcare program practices good hand washing techniques and follows recommended procedures for cleaning and disinfecting toys.
• Distribute MRSA education materials to parents (see www.cdc.gov/mrsa). You may want to distribute MRSA education materials to parent before an infection breaks out, so parents know how to prevent and recognize MRSA infections early.
CAN A CHILD OR PROVIDER PASS ON AN INFECTION TO OTHERS?
• Yes, MRSA skin infections are transmitted primarily by skin-to-skin contact and by contact with surfaces that have come into contact with someone else’s infection.
SHOULD A CHILD WITH A MRSA SKIN INFECTION BE EXCLUDED FROM YOUR CHILDCARE PROGRAM?
• Generally speaking, unless directed by a physician or a public health official, a child with MRSA skin infection should not be excluded from their early childcare program IF the infected skin can be kept covered with a clean, dry bandage (preventing the infected skin from coming in to contact with other children, the environment or the child’s hands.)
• Exclusion from your program should be reserved for those with wound drainage (“pus”) that cannot be covered and contained by using the bandage technique mentioned above.
SHOULD YOUR CHILDCARE PROGRAM BE CLOSED IF A CHILD HAS A MRSA SKIN INFECTION?
• The decision to close your childcare program for any communicable disease should be made by you in consultation with local and/or state public health officials. However, in most cases, it is not necessary to close a facility because a child has an MRSA skin infection.
Should your childcare program be closed to be cleaned or disinfected when an MRSA skin infection occurs?
• In general, it is not necessary to close your program to disinfect them when MRSA skin infections occur. When MRSA skin infections occur, more focused cleaning and disinfecting efforts, in addition to normal cleaning routines, should be performed on surfaces that are likely to contact uncovered or poorly covered infections.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF A MRSA INFECTION?
• 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. aureus skin infections, including MRSA, appear as a bump or infected area on the skin that might be:
Red
Swollen
Painful
warm to the touch
full of pus or other drainage
accompanied by a fever
HOW CAN MRSA INFECTIONS BE PREVENTED?
• Make sure that everyone in the program practices good hand washing technique and follows recommended cleaning and disinfection toys.
RESOURCES
This information was taken from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). There are free materials for early childhood care professionals, as well as for parents that you can obtain by calling 1-800-CDC-INFO or by visiting www.cdc.gov/MRSA