Mercers Disease, anyone????

Has anyone heard of this, a kid in Lexi's class apparently has it and I cant find anything out about it. And I am kinda worried about it, I just found out today its a little girl that we know outside of school and no offense but her parents arent all there and I wanted more info. PLEASE HELP...

I've never heard it called that. But here's what I found: Mercers disease

Ive never heard of it being called that either. MRSA. Yup. its every where. its getting so its to prevelant that its not even a big deal anymore unfortunately. health care workers are exposed to it so much we are basically all carriers.
This is one reason why you should use your antibiotics as prescribed, and NOT over use them.

Thanks for the info, but do you think I should have anything to worry about with Lexi. Just curious.

My brother had this type of Staph infection this year. He was in and out of the hospital because of it but neither his wife nor his children (nor my parents when they went there to help out) contracted it or passed it to anyone else. HTH

no.
It depends on where her infection is, wound, skin, lungs, I think that if she was a danger to other children she wouldn't be allowed to be in school. In our hospital once you get it you are considered to have it for forever.

Really, she is probably in as much danger from getting it from a grocery cart than from a child at school. OOOH them things are NASTY!

no.
It depends on where her infection is, wound, skin, lungs, I think that if she was a danger to other children she wouldn't be allowed to be in school. In our hospital once you get it you are considered to have it for forever.

Really, she is probably in as much danger from getting it from a grocery cart than from a child at school. OOOH them things are NASTY!

Thanks. And it is on the girls leg. And I am not sure that the school even knows about it cause trust me her parents are the lazy just send them anyways type. This is the same kid that was sent home the first week of school for head lice.

no.
It depends on where her infection is, wound, skin, lungs, I think that if she was a danger to other children she wouldn't be allowed to be in school. In our hospital once you get it you are considered to have it for forever.

Really, she is probably in as much danger from getting it from a grocery cart than from a child at school. OOOH them things are NASTY!

Thanks. And it is on the girls leg. And I am not sure that the school even knows about it cause trust me her parents are the lazy just send them anyways type. This is the same kid that was sent home the first week of school for head lice.

nice. I can't wait until my kids get that. I don't think I will be able to handle it.

I hate lice.

I had lice a few years ago (thank you children running rampate at the fair). I either got it from my brush being left and some kid coming up and thinking it was cool to use an unattended brush. Or from other lovely children we kept having to chase out of our dressing stall b/c they were putting our show close on (including hats).

Now I'm freaking obsessive about it. Everytime I run my fingers through my hair and some comes out (like it normally does) I check it. Even if my head isn't itchy. I know sad huh?

You guys for the record and I'm not normally one to get offended but kids get lice and it has nothing to do with them being dirty. I'm a clean freak when it comes to my kids and Hanna has gotten lice twice. My kids are always dressed nice when we go anywhere and her hair is always up and meticulous...you can ask anyone. She got it the first time because Desiree got it at school and brought it home, another time from another kid in daycare and it's very very hard to get rid of. The first time it literally took me like 4 weeks to get rid of it because Desiree would go back to school and get it again, so someone there wasn't doing their job, and this last time it took a couple of weeks too. So..please don't think lice happens to just dirty people!! Sometimes you think you have gotten rid of it and low and behold there was one teeny tiny egg in their hair and it hatched, I mean that stuff is a bear! So please don't say it's dirty people, because I'm FAR from dirty and my kid has gotten it twice.

Oh, I know its not just dirty people. I don't consider my self to be dirty, and I KNOW it is just a matter of time before it comes into my house.

Yeah I wasn't talking about your comment because believe me it is hard to handle and it makes me want to vomit when I think about it too, just the thought - ick! It was saying these are the same people whose kid was sent home with head lice comments (I know no one meant anything bad by it) but it's just that kids who get lice can't always be associated with dirty or bad parents. And yes everyone's kids will more than likely have to deal with it at one time or another. I just hope their time with it isn't nearly as bad as the two times I've had to deal with it. Urg it made me go

I agree with LeaAnn and I would worry about Hep C before anything else that may come into schools but just remember the schools will never tell who has what

My sis's child kept getting it one year and she is a clean freak also about those children. She did the whole routine of washing everything...blah blah blah. She finally realized that she didnt ever do anything with the stuffed animals kay had on her bed. Put the bear in a plastic bag I think and no more lice. I remember getting it and it is nasty!

MRSA is very common. Once you have it you are a carrier. If I have a MRSA "outbreak" Annika can get it from me. Kids can get it from having a big bite, touching a handle on the grocery cart at Wal Mart and scratch their bites. This is how easy it is to get it. It can live on any surface for up to 24 hours. I have to have an active infection though so obviously the child did. Due to the magnitude of this infection, parents have to be notified.

wow this thread has scared me

I would be worried to Lisa

There are so many things out there that are just as bad as MRSA. Its just gorss, probably best if you don't know about it. Its so gross. I won't touch my kids when I get home from work. Who knows what I am dragging home to them, even if I change out of my scrubs before I leave work.

Ooh I didn't know you could get MRSA that easy! Eew! Brian's aunt had MRSA from a staph infection from the hospital and it almost killed her. The infection did something to her intestines or something like that and now she wears a colostomy (sp?) bag. It's horrible. There was a huge issue with the hospital she got it from,there is a big class action law suit going on over it, becuase so many people got it and some lost their lives so their loved ones are suing. She is part of the lawsuit.

I know the whole head lice thing is her parents. They dont try and get rid of it. I know her parents personally no they dont hang out with me or anything like that its jsut I know them and they are just so lazy and everything. So the headlice thing I just hate all the cleaning and everything cause yes Lexi got it last year and I thought I was gona die.

Ita with LeaAnn about lice. EVERYONE I know, including my mom who was a schoolteacher, has gotten it at one time or another. It sucks, and it's stigmatizing b/c so many people are judgmental about it.

About MRSA, it's very scary that a once hospital borne infection is now out in the mainstream public. People just don't want to hear what they don't want to hear about antibiotic misuse and overuse, including drs. I wish I had a dollar for everytime someone went to the dr with a cold/virus, and was erroneously told by a dr that "it's a sinus infection" or something to that effect, and sent home with a course of heavy duty antibiotics. The dr just wants you in and out of the office as quickly as possible, and a script is the most efficient way to do that. Sorry to sound cynical, but it's unfortnately true, and you need to vigorously question your dr about every medication before taking it. Every medication has side effects, even antibiotics, and even if it's not immediately if ever obvious. You are altering the balance of good and bad bacteria in your body by taking antibiotics, which creates opportunities for bad bacterias to proliferate and spread to other people. It's a systemic thing. Someone's choice to be an antibiotic abuser has implications for the rest of us. Sometimes (rarely, really) taking the meds is unavoidable, and if you need them, they can be life saving. But, the only way a dr can know something is bacterial is to do labwork- period. I insist on it before taking any meds- but everyone just wants the quick fix. When it comes to the common cold/most flus- there is no quick fix- and taking antibiotics unnecessarily only sets you up for opportunistic infections like the one mentioned in the op.

You're right Jeanne, it's pretty ironic....I have had an ongoing infection in one specific area and went to urgent care yesterday....they gave me two antibiotics and said if that doesn't clear it up, THEN they'll check it for MRSA

I didn't give it a lot of thought because I was in a hurry but I'm thinking I'd rather know sooner than later, if that is in fact the problem these antibiotics aren't going to do a whole lot of good anyway.

Megan and I both actually got it a few years back. I was stupid and tried on a cowboy hat at a festival. I knew better, but I did it anyway hence the breakout. With all my research I did to try to get rid of it I learned that Lice actually prefer a clean scalp to a dirty one. It is easier for them to eat. I found a wonderful cure that worked super fast, but it is very messy. I actually paid like $10.00 for it over the internet and it wasn't medication.
Here it is:
Buy a plastic shower cap,a huge bottle of olive oil, and a grease cutting dish soap
***On the first and second day drown your head in the olive oil and put the showercap on over night (Meg and I slept on the floor on blankets and an old pillow case that I could throw away or in a bag for a couple of weeks and then wash)
***Then on Days 4, 6 and 8 (I believe...it could be every three days) repeat the process. I was so determined to get rid of them I did it everynight for 5 days.
***Then to wash the olive oil out wash your hair with dish soap and comb out with a fine tooth comb (or a nit comb).

The dish soap really dries your hair out, but it works so much faster then the medicated options and is cheaper. What the olive oil does is drowns them. The oil is too thick for them to breath through (which they can do with water). The every other day or the every 3rd day is to drown any of the ones that hatched if the eggs weren't combed out.
Your bedding, toys and clothes can all be put in plastic bags (sealed) for a week or longer to kill any left. The can't survive without blood for either 24 or 48 hrs.

Gross topic, but I hope this helps for the Lice section of it. I know it worked wonders for us. We were bug free in 5 days. And now that I am itchy all over just from the thought of them I am done.

Well that is sort of like what I did. First I used the shampoos and I'm sorry but for $13 or whatever, that crap sucks! Anyways....I used a combination of mayonnaise and vinegar at first. You pour them in a bowl together and mix until it's pasty. Put a bag over your head while you do it, this basically suffocates them as you said. The vinegar gets hot on your head and it suffocates them, then the mayo conditions your hair and also helps suffocate them as well but it puts an oily film on your head that helps the nits come out easier. Then I doused her hair in baby oil for probably 3-4 days in a row and combed through it every night. Meanwhile spraying my couch, carpets, matresses every day, and washing her pillowcases and stuff every night. It's a pain the patoot!

So true. I think that Peds and Moms in general are a HUGE part of the problem. Parents drag their kids right into the Dr for every cough/ runny nose and basically expect that antibiotics will be given. They get mad if they aren't. A lot of times they feel like they are being ignored or brushed off by the Dr if they don't leave the office with a prescription for something. Its hard on the Docs too, because they know they will loose their clients if they don't humor them.

I know this is true, but I also believe it is their responsibility to educate these people rather than placate them. Sometimes it's a simple lack of understanding or awareness, or even just impatience. If a cold lasts more than 3 or 4 days, I know alot of people will assume it's something "serious" that requires medication. They take the antibiotics, get better in a few days, and think it was the drugs, when in fact, the virus just took that long to run its course. So next time they get the same type of cold, they run right back to the dr again. The dr has the knowledge, and the ability to just say no.
I believe they are the front line, not the parents. Parents can't get the drugs w/o the scripts, kwim??