Okaz/Saudi Gazette MADINAH — A 50-year-old woman was admitted to a private hospital here recently after she was hit by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of body. She stayed at hospital for 25 days and relatives were not allowed to visit her fearing they would contract the infectious disease. Doctors said the woman was admitted to hospital after she suffered from join pain all over her body. In the beginning they could not diagnose her health condition and several medical tests were conducted during the first four days. Later on doctors conclued that she was infected by MARSA, which is tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus — or staph — because it is resistant to some commonly used antibiotics. Doctors and nurses at the Madinah hospital told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the condition of the woman has improved and her relatives are now allowed to visit her. "The type of MRSA that hit the woman was not life-threatening," they said. Most often, MRSA causes mild infections on the skin, like sores or boils. But it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract. Though most MRSA infections are not serious, some can be life-threatening, doctors warned. Many public health experts are alarmed by the spread of tough strains of MRSA, because it is hard to treat. MRSA is sometimes called a "super bug." The first case of MRSA was reported in Egypt in 2014 when it hit four doctors. Three of them died. It destroys the respiratory system of the affected person.
