<p>mom60, I really think that if you call some dermatologists and explain someone should be able to see you. I wouldn’t wait.</p>
<p>I have to agree with Northeastmom. I think you would also feel better if she was seen before she returns to school. With her history, she could be seen even at an ER. </p>
<p>The MRSA bacteria takes several days (72 hours) to be cultured and to learn the antibiotic sensitivities. Most Drs. who have seen this type of infection will do a culture and at the same time begin an antibiotic program. Generally the Drs. have a good idea which antibiotic will work for an infection found in their geographic area, but they still will grow the culture to be sure.</p>
<p>Also, several of my daughter’s infections were huge and extremely painful, which is what made her get medical help. At that time, the infection was not draining so it is difficult to get a good sample to do the culture, but they still cultured what they could. This could be the situation with your daughter’s uncertainty about the results. </p>
<p>My daughter had two on her face. I would caution your daughter to toss ALL makeup. The bacteria loves the moist environment of makeup and will proliferate in the containers.</p>
<p>I agree with jelomom. If you cannot get your D into a dermatologist, you can always go to an ER and then insist on a consultation with a dermatologist. That is exactly what I would do.</p>
<p>I’m glad I found this topic by searching. I’m a graduate student who was diagnosed with a staph infection / likely MRSA by the health center yesterday. It started out as a huge boil / abscess in my armpit that needed to be lanced and drained, but yesterday, the day after the procedure, I woke up with a fever and an infection in my pinkie cuticle. I intern at a hospital (although in the psychiatry department), and the doctor thinks it’s likely I picked this up there. Thankfully the infection is contained to the skin. I’m on doxycycline and have been instructed to soak the armpit and pinkie twice a day.</p>
<p>Even though the doctor says this should give me a complete recovery, I can’t help but be frightened because I know how serious MRSA can be. It doesn’t help that I feel like crap. Is it possible the antibiotics won’t completely kill this infection and that it could keep coming back? I’m generally a very healthy person who eats pretty well and exercises regularly, and I’ve never had anything worse than strep throat or bronchitis in my entire life.</p>
<p>PLEASE stay in close contact with your doctor. If you start feeling worse, head to an emergency room!</p>
<p>Fishoutofwater, get tested for MRSA now. There are many tests on the market, even the molecular ones that only take a couple of hours or less (if you already started your antibiotic course, culture tests may not work well and you’ll need a PCR test to detect the bug). Doxocylclin may or may not work for the strain that is causing your troubles. If you think that you feel worse, do not hesitate going to an ER!</p>
<p>Fishoutofwater- When they drained your boil, did they send a sample to be cultured? That is how they confirm MRSA and the correct antibiotic to administer. How is the boil area doing? Don’t hesitate to seek medical help if the infected area enlarges or if you have a fever. The infection on your finger could well be another site, especially if you touched any of the drainage (this contains the bacteria). Did they have you covering the site and carefully disposing of the bandage? A little late, but CUT your nails.</p>
<p>You can go back read my posts on CA-MRSA over the past year. My daughter was one of the unfortunate ones that had reoccurances (4). I offered advice on how to help avoid a reoccurrance in the posts. You need to be very careful with your environment if you want to improve your chances of not becoming reinfected. </p>
<p>Take care</p>
<p>PS. you commented “Is it possible the antibiotics won’t completely kill this infection and that it could keep coming back?”, it is more likely that it is living in your environment, makeup, lotion, DEODORANT, etc. and that is how you would become reinfected. It thrives in moist environments, any on the body or not</p>
<p>Bringing this back up again.
My D is once again looking at another staph infection. She has two painful boils under her armpit. One is large and painful and has drained some pus. The other is just beginning. She is off to the Dr this afternoon.</p>
<p>mom60, oh I feel your pain. DD had a boil that required draining and lots of antibiotics to clear out. D got tested for BOTH staph and MRSA. Since the hospital used a culture test that required 48 hr to get conclusive results instead of a PCR test which gets results out in a few hours, D’s doctor made sure she initially got prescriptions to treat both, because waiting for two days to start treatment might have had bad consequences (she dropped one of her meds when it was clear it was not MRSA). Scary stuff. If your D starts oral antibiotics, make sure the doctor recommends some sort of a probiotic supplement because antibiotics can and will mess up the normal gut bacteria.</p>
<p>Bunsenburner-she just called. She saw a new Dr who she loved. She was given a prescription for antibiotics and told to put warm compresses on them. The Dr felt they did not look bad. My D said before going to the Dr today the one that had drained was already looking better.
She will go back to see the Dr in one week unless things turn worse. Since my D has had problems with low iron in the past the Dr will also do some blood work. D also left with a prescription for an asthma inhaler that she needed.
My D and both her parents are glad that she has found a Internist in her new city that she likes.</p>
<p>Good to hear she found a doctor she likes. Your D need to know that if things do not improve in the first couple of days, she needs to see a doctor ASAP or run to the emergency room. Keeping my fingers crossed that your D will be OK. Your D also needs to stop by a grocery store and load up on yogurt (or get a probiotic in a pill form if she can’t have milk) - antibiotics are known to cause upset stomachs and yeast infections, and a probiotic supplement can counterbalance that.</p>
<p>Will remind her about the yogurt. She is allergic to a long list of items but milk is not one of them.
I am hoping the healing process goes smoothly. The scar from the one last year is still huge. Last time she waited till it was black and smelly before she finally went to the Dr. This time she recognized it right away and went to the Dr within 3 days of the first boil appearing.
She is also extremely concerned since she works in a setting with children.</p>
<p>My Daughter had MRSA 3 months ago. Treated and cleared up. I took her to Dr. again yesterday with a hugh infected area on her hip. It is also MRSA. He put her a longer dose and diff. antibiotic. Both of these infected places had to be surgically opens and drained. Very bad. I’m interested in finding out if my peticular school is having a problem.How do you find out?</p>
<p>I think I would contact dept of public health. They might be able to tell you if school has to report. If hospitals or physicians report they might have data. Data might also include antibiotics that were more successful in the community and hospitals. Good luck. We were fortunate that son responded to just one course of treatmet with cheap drug.</p>
<p>Sorry for the delay in response. It sounds like you are getting the correct treatment. I’m the one who started this thread and can appreciate your concern and worries. My daughter had four infections! I worried too about the school environment however, we came to understand that MRSA is everywhere and what we had to do is focus on our daughter’s personal environment. If you read back over my posts, you will see the steps that we took to FINALLY eliminate her infections.
Sending you my encouragement during this challenging time.</p>
<p>I was reading over my initial posts during the height of our infection period. Now, two years later and a few observations I would add. My daughter still has serious scares from the infections and I wish I had asked more about treatment for the scares. Also, my 85 year old mother spent Christmas in the hospital with a MRSA infection. They treated her with vancomycin and while it cleared the infection, it left her so sick from what it did to her intestinal track. My daughter was offered the same medicine on her second infection but a very wise ER doctor told us that if it was his daughter, he would double dose with the antibiotic tested sensitive to the strain for the first few days and then resume normal dosing. This worked well and we continued with the same protocol with her subsequent infections. I am not sure many doctors are familar with this treatment plan.</p>