Flesh-eating bacteria, tuberculosis resistant to multiple drugs and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, aka MRSA ? the names fill us with the dread of catching some vile disease for which there is no relief.
Yet actual occurrences are extremely rare if you don?t have a serious immune disease such as HIV, said Karen Mackie, infection control manager for Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
“There?s been a lot in the media. It?s been a bit sensational, and it has scared some folks,” she said. “Skin boils have been around for hundreds of years, and most of them never made the front page of the newspaper until recently.”
Average, healthy people will never face these diseases if they wear clean clothes and shower and wash their hands regularly, Mackie said. “When you go to the gym, be sure to shower before you leave.”
Greater Baltimore Medical Center will hold a community forum Tuesday evening to educate the public about the risk and precautions you can take to protect yourself and your family from staph infections.
MRSA infections usually appear as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Because MRSA is resistant to most antibiotics, it is important that we all work together ? hospitals and health care providers, schools, and community members ? to prevent the spread of this and other infections,” said Dr. Daniel Levy, an internist and infection control specialist at GBMC. “Learning about what each of us can do to combat these infections is an important first step.”
Learn the facts
Community Forum About MRSA
» 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
» Greater Baltimore Medical Center (fifth-floor hospital dining room)
» 6701 N. Charles St., Towson
» For more information, go to gbmc.org/communityforum.
