More than two years ago now, one of the residents where I work ended up rubbing the knuckle on one of her toes raw after doing a great deal of walking. This woman was 98 years old at the time and has arthritis. The knuckles on her toes bulge upwards. At first this was just a minor irritation, but it did not heal. When we would help her with her showers we would apply Neosporin to the wound. The doctors also prescribed her a variety of antibiotics.
A few months ago, the wound was diagnosed as having a MRSA (Methycillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) infection. It still has not healed but she now has a wound care nurse who dresses it so it will not become more irritated. The MRSA also ended up infecting the tip of another toe, which had been rubbed raw.
I wonder if we accidentally provided the ideal climate for MRSA by our sporadic application of the Neosporin (only on the nights when we assisted the lady with her showers.)
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