"You don't play around with MRSA!"

I realize the photo is gross but trust me, compared to other cases of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), these photos are tame.

This staph infection can be deadly if it reaches the blood stream or bone. It looks like any other infected sore but beware, it spreads like wildfire and will eat away your flesh.

This condition is on my mind because my son was diagnosed with a MRSA infection. I was stunned because he (as far as I know) has not been around anyone with such an infection. Yes folks, the bonus or the cherry on the infection sundae is this killer infection is highly contagious and regular antibiotics won't kill it, hence the word "resistant" in its name.

So this post is more a warning than anything to everyone. This infection can begin like a pimple or resemble a spider bite. The warning signs come when you have a fever and the infection is spreading despite care to the site. My mother cleaned and bandaged my son's infection. We thought it was just a spider bite. It was about the size of a pencil eraser. The next day it was the size of a dime and the red ring surrounding the infection was about the size of a quarter. My mom insisted I take him to the urgent care facility.

Ugh...during flu season AND a Friday night, that is an ordeal! We waited for a long while among the coughing, sneezing children but finally got to see a doctor. She down-played the seriousness of the infection but wrote a prescription and specifically said over the counter medication will not work. She asked me to wait for the prescription. When they brought me the prescription, it was the medication, not a slip so then I really understood how serious this is.

The moral is, if you have an infected area of skin that is spreading despite home medical treatment, get thyself to a doctor ASAP. If it is not MRSA, great! If it is MRSA, not only have you just saved your own life, you may have prevented spreading this deadly infection. Even if it does not kill you, it can take away significant portions of your body and I'm sure you would not like that. Cheers!