Stop MRSA Now!

Picture this:
You are in a public rest room. 4 people come out of the stalls. 3 people stop and wash their hands. The 4th person, fixes her hair and walks out the door. Disgusting? You bet! Dangerous? Yes! Extremely Dangerous...

Germs and bacteria are spread by touching something that is contaminated and then touching something else. MRSA - a type of Staph bacteria that is antibiotic resistant - is a particularly nasty bacteria that can be easily spread by touching contaminated items. This can be a door handle, a piece of gym equipment, or even a dirty shopping cart.

We need to Stop MRSA Now.

People can carry MRSA and not have any symptoms. These people can also transmit the bacteria to other people and have no idea that they are doing it. This is why we need to do a few things to protect ourselves from MRSA.

The first and easiest thing to do is WASH YOUR HANDS!
Wash your hands with warm water and SOAP - any kind of soap will do. It doesn't have to be antibacterial soap. Scrub for at lest 15 seconds. (Sing Happy Birthday if you can't count 15 Mississippis.) Oh and running the water and just putting the tips of your fingers under the stream - that doesn't count. You need to scrub.

Use a bleach and water solution to disinfect hard surfaces. Make sure to clean the cleaning cloths you use to avoid spreading MRSA. In other words, wash your cleaning rags.

If you have a cut or a boo-boo, keep it covered. Use a bandage - Scooby Doo (the most popular bandage at The Crossing) or Superman, or even a plain old pink bandage work quite well.

Do not share towels or razors. That's just asking for trouble! Besides, you don't want to wipe your face or your hands after someone else has used the same towel to wipe their hairy butt, do you? That's just gross!

If you go to the gym to use the machines, put a towel down to keep your skin away from the equipment. When you are done using the equipment, use the spray and clean off the machine. It only takes a couple of seconds. You may want to clean the machines before and after you use them. You can't be sure that the last person wiped it down when they were done...

MRSA can be stopped.
It's up to you.

Want more information? Stop MRSA Now.

Thanks to Mom Central for supporting this very important cause.