MRSA is So Prominent Even Oprah Can't Ignore It

MRSA is not going away. From every corner of the national landscape the message is the same. MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, is an enormous problem that is growing nationwide and is a potentially life-threatening scourge that is here to stay.

(Vocus) April 28, 2009 -- MRSA is not going away. From every corner of the national landscape the message is the same. MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, is an enormous problem that is growing nationwide and is a potentially life-threatening scourge that is here to stay. From Oprah to World MRSA Day, the alarms are sounding to bring awareness to disease.

The Oprah Winfrey Show is dedicating its Tuesday, April 28 show to MRSA. The show, titled Dr. Oz Investigates: Flesh Eating Bacteria, will bring awareness to the disease. Even though it is most commonly called MRSA, say"mersa", it's also been known as flesh eating bacteria or antibiotic resistant staph or the superbug. No matter what it's called, MRSA is leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

Jeanine Thomas, a MRSA survivor, founded The MRSA Survivor's network in 2003. The highly regarded network and website have been stalwarts in the fight to prevent MRSA and educate the public. Thomas nearly died from the disease in 2002 when MRSA was nearly unheard of and, therefore, commonly misdiagnosed. The MRSA Survivor's Network was the first organization to ring the bell about MRSA awareness and prevention. Her website www.mrsasurvivors.org has become a leading resource for MRSA information and support on the internet. Thomas and her non-profit organization have continued a crusade to establish legislation to battle the disease.

To bring awareness on a world wide scale, the first World MRSA Day is scheduled for October 1, 2009. The day will be part of a larger MRSA Awareness Month. Both events were created to bring awareness to a disease that kills more people in the U.S. than AIDS, according to a 2005 report from the Centers for Disease Control.

A cottage industry of MRSA prevention products has emerged to help stop the spread of the superbug. The most prominent prevention product to establish itself is Staphaseptic. The product was launched in 2006 to little fanfare as it positioned itself as a leave-on topical wound care treatment to kill MRSA bacteria and help prevent a MRSA infection. Sales of Staphaseptic skyrocketed in October 2007 when MRSA began to appear on in the national news. The company also created www.mrsaHelp.com as a resource for MRSA prevention. MRSA: The Ticking Time Bomb, a video created by Tec Labs, the company behind Staphaseptic, has been requested by over 12,000 schools and organizations, according to sources at Tec Labs.

In 2008, Dr. Phil dedicated an hour to his show to put a spotlight on the evolving threat of MRSA. That same year the CDC launched the National MRSA Education Initiative. No matter how the subject is sliced, there is no escaping MRSA. Prevention is at the forefront of each entity's plan for curbing the epidemic.

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