Anyone that's been watching the news these past few day should know that theres been recent scare about Staph and MRSA infection in schools, normally crowded public areas, and hospitals/retirement homes. In the county that I live in there have been six confirmed cases of Staph infection, all of which being at high schools, one of those high schools is my high school. I found that out today when a girl in my science class mentioned it, at first I didn't believe her and then I checked out the school website for my area and found out it was true. So I guess my question is should I go to the doctor and at least get a check up or not worry about it and shrug it off as nothing? In all honesty its not myself that I'm worried about I normally handle sickness well, but if I do have it I could easily pass it on to my brother who gets sick very easily and has a hard time handling the common cold and headaches.

It probably wouldn't hurt just to get checked out. Especially if someone in you home is susceptible to illnesses.

If you haven't come into direct contact with someone who has it, or if you haven't had any health problems lately, I'd say don't worry about it. People may be calling this an "epidemic" but it really isn't getting that bad. The media is just turning the problem into a huge controversy.

But if you find out that a person in your class has been infected, or you start to feel some of the symptoms, get yourself checked out right away.

You say you're in high school, but I've only heard of MRSA and so-on outbreaks outside hospitals in the UK (hence, deep scrub or whatever it is - if only people had TIME to wash their hands!)... so... high school wouldn't be the equivalent of secondary school, would it?

But then I wouldn't know, because I'm not too keyed-in with the news of other countries.

I'm thinking of the NHS here, so it wouldn't cost you anything to get checked out...

Are you feeling at all unwell? Come into contact with the person who's been ill with it? I hear simply keeping good hygiene habits (as I said, handwashing, etc...) is enough to keep it at bay...

If you're not feeling unwell and you go to the Doctor, I don't think there's much they can do if you have no symptoms?

Problem is I don't know who had it, what classes she/he/they had or anything like that. If I knew who it was that would make things so much easier, that way I know if I've been in contact with them or not.

But they say that good hygiene is a big part of it and I do take good care of myself but at the same time there is something I'm slightly worried about. My and my mom have bumps appearing on our skin and they itch really badly. The skin breaks very easily for some reason, which has never happened, and afterwards it scabs up and scars, which has also never happened, and before they scar they hurt to touch but thats just some of them. Normally it scabs up and heals itself just fine but now there are scars all over my arms. I know it can' be because we're not drinking enough water, she pretty much forces me to and she always has a bottle. But anyway...

From what I've read though I don't have any symptoms but I want to be careful anyway.

Yeah not to get you freaked out or anything but I looked online for info on MRSA and if you and your mom have those little blisters (bumps) then you both should get checked just as a precaution. Better safe than sorry. Seriously you should go to a doctor he should know better than the rest of us <3

All you have to do is stay clean. Wash your hands and go through your basic hygiene. You could even carry around a little bottle of anti-bacterial gel if you really want. Also make sure that you take care of your minor cuts and scrapes.

Just be aware but don't be obsessive about it or anything like that. Be aware of your own hygiene and what not and encourage your friends and families to do the same, always wear clean clothes and make sure you are ok.

IF your worried go and see your doctor other than that keep open wounds clean. You can buy anti-bacterial(sp?) hand wash that you just run on your hands you need to dry them or use soap get a good one of them and carry it about with you. If you have cuts keep them clean and covered with a plaster. MRSA infects open wounds and they don't heal. That's why you need to keep any open woulds clean and covered up. Make sure as woopdidoodoo said to keep your clothes clean especially if anyone in your family gets ill easily.

yes ive heard about that..i think both you and brother should see the doctor about that..and if either of you feels any of the sypmtoms dont be hesitant to tell one another or your guardian

Well...even if you handle sickness well it really doesn't matter. Because the virus has mutated it's immune to most antibiotics. That's I'm really freaked out about getting it. I'm in college and I work at my public library and all of the HS's around me have it...and in Rochester (that's where I live)a Middle School was shut down due to an infection.

On top of that my boyfriend's school has been shut down for a few days because they are disinfecting it...and he still comes into contact with some of the people from his old HS. So I don't want to have him pass it on to me.

Overall I'm just freaking out! haha. Because it's so contagious and there's nothing you can do to cure it and people (obviously) die from it. It also worries me because one of the people that died is a big athlete. You would think 'he's healthy and can fight it off' but nope...less than a week ago he died. And in Rochester this 15 year old kid got it and it spread to his lungs and kidneys and he just died as well. So in my opinion I say definitely go to the doctors even just for a check-up. Because it doesn't matter if you can handle being sick, for lack of better phrase, it'll infect and make you sick anyways.

Oh and I work at my public library (shelving books) anyone could have checked out those books….so I’m washing my hands and disinfecting them as much as possible. The internet said that if you think you’re at risk you should 1) wash your hands as much as possible, avoid using public restrooms/locker rooms and 2) if you can’t wash your hands keep some hand sanitizer with you. And make sure it is something that can kill mrsa, because some work…and some don’t.

I know I’m just babbling, but this is affecting me and I’m worried about it. Where I am it’s starting to reach an epidemic level.

EDIT: And if you do get mrsa, the only thing you really can do is pop all of the puss out of the rash, put bleach on it and keep your arms/legs or whatever is infected bandaged up.

You should get checked out.

I mean, not only for your brother and yourself, but any other people you may get in contact with. In my opinion, it is always better safe, than sorry.