<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"   Question I am nine months pregnant and was hoping to visit and stay with a relative who has just been screened for MRSA.  If she has MRSA in a wound, would this put my baby at risk?   Answer MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcus is a bacteria, which normally lives on the surface of our bodies causing no harm or problem whatsoever.  The only difference is that MRSA does not respond to most antibiotics used in general medical practice.  Because of this, if it contaminates wounds or internal organs, serious infections can be produced which are difficult to eradicate and potentially fatal in those people who are immune deficient or chronically sick.  In normal healthy people MRSA is of no great significance even if it exists on the skin.  People who are most vulnerable to its affects are people in hospitals on ventilators in intensive care, for example.  If your relative had MRSA in the wound there is a theoretical possibility that you could then become a carrier of the bug.  Normally this would not be a problem, but because childbirth may involve medical procedures and the potential for an episiotomy, or a vaginal tear. This would put you at more risk, and of course the baby too, whose skin could become colonised with the bugs from you.  My advice would be to postpone this visit to your relative until after the birth and your recovery from it, until the risk is minimised.  Yours sincerely The NetDoctor Medical Team  Other Qs &amp;amp;amp; As Home carers and MRSA What is MRSA infection?  Last updated 19.02.2015 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ask-the-expert/infections/a5493/mrsa-and-pregnancy/>