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A Common Germ Can Cause Big Problems
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT

Despite its long and difficult name, staphylococcus aureus is a common germ found almost everywhere: on our skin. You kind find it in your nose and under your fingernails. Now, it's harmless until you get a scrape or a cut and the germ enters your skin. Then it's off to the emergency room.
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus or MRSA has become a major problem, due partially to the overuse of antibiotics. MRSA is a germ that is getting more difficult to kill. Antibiotics alone won't work, often the infection needs to be drained. Sometimes doctors do this surgery right in the emergency room, then admit the patient into the hospital. Dr. Michael Ziegler, with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta says that "if it isn't treated aggressively it could eventually erode into the other tissue such as bone, or it would get into the bloodstream and potentially cause a life-threatening infection." After surgery, patients are often put on an antibiotic, and then allowed to go home after a few days.

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