The superbug bacterium known as MRSA-resistant staph is on the rise–dramatically. An ever-increasing percentage of people who’ve been hospitalized are ending up battling some version of the relentless infections it produces. You might be one of the one in every hundred Americans carrying this bug around on your skin or in your nose, and even though you’re not sick, you could easily pass this on to someone around you who is ill or injured, has a weakened immune system, and who will develop a staph infection that could prove extremely serious–even life threatening.

Do you know someone who saves antiobiotics and reuses them? Do you know anyone who insists the doctor prescribe antibiotics for even a simple cold? Do you know anyone who insists he/she feels better and takes only part of the prescribed antibiotics and throws the rest away? If you know anyone who does one or more of these things, share with them the information in these articles:
1) “Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: The Way to the Wound Is through the Nose” as reported from the Journal of Infectious Diseases in a MedPage Today story; and 2) all about you and the superbug.

Okay, so even if up until now you haven’t been listening to health advice about washing your hands frequently (because you, like many of us, are waltzing through life believing you’re invulnerable), it’s time to start doing it now, especially if you or someone around you is sick or injured. Antibiotics just aren’t the superguns they used to be–and some of the monsters they have to shoot are getting bigger.

On that note, enjoy your holiday-end-of-year time. Eat, drink, be merry–and wash your hands afterwards.