How Can Someone Get Mercer Disease?

The Name

Mercer disease does not actually exist; when people talk about Mercer disease, they are actually referring to MRSA. This confusion is probably caused by a misunderstanding or knowledge of how to pronounce MRSA.

MRSA is an infection that is caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. This bacteria normally causes staph infections, but there is a special strain of this bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics; it is this particular strain of bacteria that causes MRSA. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. As indicated by its name, it is caused by that particular bacteria and it is nonresistant to antibiotics, which means it can be fatal.

Because MRSA is a bacteria, it can be contracted easily. The bacteria is usually spread by someone that is carrying the disease, and when they get any of their bodily fluids (sweat, spit or blood) on any surface other people can come into contact with. The bacteria must have a place to enter into the body and go into the blood stream, so it can enter through cuts, scrapes, wounds or even areas of the skin that are weak or broken. The elderly are especially susceptible to MRSA due to their thinner skin, and people with psoriasis and eczema are also at a higher risk of contracting the bacteria.

MRSA is generally contracted in hospitals. This is because people in a hospital, generally, have a lowered immune system and they are being handled by a nurse who can carry the bacteria from an infected person to a non-infected person. There are many places for the bacteria to enter into the body when someone is in the hospital; such as through a surgical wound, a hole in the arm from an IV, a catheter, a break in the skin caused by a shot or any other area of the skin that is compromised due to the hospital visit.
Another place that harbors MRSA is the gym. People sweat at the gym, so if someone that is infected with MRSA sweats on a machine, and then someone else comes and sits on that machine and gets the sweat on their skin, the bacteria has the potential to enter in through the skin and cause an MRSA infection in that person. It is important that when you are at the gym, you wipe down all of your machines before you use them.