Spending time in a hospital bed probably isn’t your first choice for a good time. However, you suffered an illness or injury that requires you to remain hospitalized for a time. Your expectation and intention is to leave in better condition than when you arrived.
Unfortunately, you could contract a hospital-acquired infection called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly called MRSA. What makes this specific staph infection particularly dangerous is its resistance to most antibiotics. A diagnosis that comes too late could result in this infection turning into sepsis, which could threaten your life.
More information about MRSA
Whether you know it or not, MRSA could live on your skin right now. This in and of itself does not necessarily present any danger, but if you have a break in your skin such as after an injury or surgery, it could enter your body and wreak havoc on it. In hospitals, you could contract this infection by touching contaminated objects or by people touching you who have not washed their hands. You and your doctors should watch for an infected area or bump displaying or causing the following:
- Warmth when touched
- Redness
- Swelling
- Draining pus or some other fluid
- Causing pain
Doctors must quickly diagnose and treat this infection to keep it from progressing. Failure to do so could cause you to suffer from sepsis, which is a condition in which your immune system attacks your whole body. Without swift and aggressive treatment, it could advance into septic shock, which could jeopardize your life due to a dramatic drop in your blood pressure leading to failure of one or more of your organ systems.
Sepsis could lead to lifelong health consequences
Receiving a clean bill of health from your doctor after a bout of sepsis doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the clear. Many people suffer from organ dysfunction, chronic pain and/or fatigue, amputations, or post-traumatic stress syndrome. All of these, consequences to your health occurred because the hospital failed to protect you from contracting MRSA and your doctors failed to keep it from progressing into sepsis.
If you can prove that you failed to receive the standard of care you deserved, you may receive compensation for the harm done to you and the lifelong issues you suffer from as a result. Medical malpractice claims are notoriously challenging, so to increase your chances of success, it would greatly benefit you to discuss your case with an experienced Texas attorney.