Use Contact Precautions when caring for patients with MRSA (colonized, or carrying, and infected). Contact Precautions mean: Whenever possible, patients with MRSA will have a single room or will share a room only with someone else who also has MRSA.

Can you spread MRSA if you are colonized?

There is a small risk of transmitting MRSA to close contacts such as your spouse when you are colonized, but the risk is much less than when there is an active infection, with pus or drainage present on the skin.

What does Colonised MRSA mean?

MRSA lives harmlessly on the skin of around 1 in 30 people, usually in the nose, armpits, groin or buttocks. This is known as "colonisation" or "carrying" MRSA. You can get MRSA on your skin by: touching someone who has it. sharing things like towels, sheets and clothes with someone who has MRSA on their skin.