Dr. Chris Ohl, an infectious disease specialist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, took questions from Winston-Salem, N.C. television station WXII about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Question: Do we need to get our children's blood work done just to check and make sure they are not infected?

Answer: No, blood work or specific cultures are not necessary to see if they are infected. If they have a skin lesion, a boil, redness or puss coming out of a wound, they should be checked by a physician or health care provider.

Question: What symptoms should you look for?

Answer: The most common symptom would be that of a skin infection: redness, puss, boil or draining ulcer of the skin. More serious infecions due to antibiotic resistant staph may have a fever and other signs of serious infecion, like confusion with the fever.

Question: Are small children just as able to get this as older kids?

Answer: Actually, small children or children in day care seem to be less likely to get the antibiotic resistant staph infections than older, school-age children.

Question: What are the symptoms of MRSA, and how would know if you have had contact with the bacteria?

Answer: If you are simply colonized with MRSA there will be no symptoms at all. If you are infected you will most likely have the symptoms that are listed above: infected boils or ulcers.

Question: What are the symptoms other than open wounds on the skin? Also, if it will not respond to antibiotics, what are the things you can do to ease symptoms?

Answer: The symptoms are detailed in the questions listed above. For patients infected who have been infected during a recent hospitalization the symptoms are that of wound infections (redness, puss, opening up of a draining surgical wound). Occasionally the hospital-associated infections will have fever with pain and dysfunction of a joint or deeper organ.

For patients with simple boils due to the community- (school or sports) associated MRSA, usually just opening up and draining the boil will control most of the symptoms and the infection itself. There are actually several antibiotics that community associated MRSA will still respond to like Septra, Bactrim, clindamycin or minocycline (a tetracycline antibiotic). One to two weeks treatment is sufficient for the skin infections.

Question: My son plays football for a Guilford County school. He played against the East Forsyth team two weeks ago. Were they being treated at that time? How long after exposure would something show up and for how long do you need to be concerned? We all know that most football players have some minor cuts and abrasions on their arms and hands.

Answer: If he became colonized with MRSA during his contacts with these other players -- actually the odds or chances are pretty low -- the infection would show up after a few days, occasionsionally a few weeks. The colonized state -- carrying the bacteria without symptoms -- does not usually last long. There is no real good way or reason to get "checked out" for colonization or the carrier state unless directed by a health care provider or public health official to do so.

Question: My 9-year-old daughter is a diabetic. I know that her disease weakens her immune system, making it more difficult for her to heal. Is she more prone to contacting MRSA because she is diabetic?

Answer: Because your daughter is a diabetic she is more likely to become a carrier of MRSA or get infected. The chances go down the better her diabetes is controlled. She is more likely to be exposed if she spends a lot of time in health care settings such as a hospital.

Question: If you've been told you have a skin infection, is that the same as MRSA? If, after the area has healed, a knot forms under the skin, could that be a problem?

Answer: Not all skin infections are due to MRSA. Other bacteria can cause it also. The most common is run-of-the-mill, regular Staph, not antibiotic-resistant Staph. A knot under the skin could represent continuing skin infection if it is red and tender. If not, it is most likely scar tissue.

Question: Is the media blowing the MRSA outbreak out of proportion?

Answer: Yes and no. There is really nothing different about community-acquired MRSA this week or year than the last few years. School systems in N.C. have been seeing cases on and off in their sports teams for a few years now. Serious infections that require a person to be admitted to a hospital are very rare and death due to it are extremely rare. A recent article in a medical journal and the associated press with it have brought it more to the attention of the media and public this week. The "epidemic" is no different now than in the last 3 to 5 years.

Question: I had this infection two years ago I was so sick the Urgent Care I went to told me if I hadn't come back in when I did I would have died in about two days. I was so sick and it was the most painful thing I'd ever experienced. It was originally misdiagnosed as a spider bite it got worse and worse.

Comment: I am sorry you had to go through that. Interestingly, up until recently many of these skin infections were misdiagnosed as spider bites. It has taken a while for us to teach practicing health care providers and make them aware of communtity-acquired MRSA skin and soft tissue infections. We do not have the spider, the brown recluse, that can cause bad bites in (North Carolina).

Question: I have kids in the school system and would like to know what casuses this and if any more research is being done into the treatment of MRSA.

Answer: The cause is a special kind of Staph that is resistant to a few antibiotics and seems to be transmitted from person to person, and then to cause infection more than routine staph. Yes, there is research being done on it, including in Winston-Salem at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Question: How contagious is MRSA? How is it passed on?

Answer: It is passed on by direct contact with a person colonized (carrying) or infected by the organism. Sometimes it can be transmitted by sharing an object, such as a towel, razor or piece of equipment or other object that has been contaminated by a MRSA carrying or infected person.

Question: I already had this back in 2005 and almost died. Can it come back?

Answer: It depends on what part of your body that was infected, your immune system, and how it was treated at that time. Occasionally, it can come back; Usually it does not. You would look for the same signs and symptoms that you had in 2005. After a couple of years it is much less likely it will come back.

Question: If a staph infection is antibiotic-resistant, what can be done to treat it? What are the chances of recovery?

Answer: The chances of recovery are actually very, very good. Particularly for infections of the skin caused by the community-acquired MRSA. We treat skin infections due to it by draining the boil or lesion and using one of several antibiotics that it almost always is sensitive to (it is not resistant to ALL antibiotics). These are almost always given as a pill. The hospital-associated infections due to MRSA are more complex and may require antibiotics to be given by vein or to have surgery with it.

Question: Do you think this is something we will see alot more of? How concerned should we be for our schools in Guilford County contracting this?

Answer: Hard to know if we will be seeing more than we are now. In general, schools do not seemed to be bothered by it much more this year than in previous years. Time will tell if it will become more prevalent.

Question: If it's so contagious and can spread fairly easily -- then why do we hear that they are sanitizing the wrestling mats, weight room equipment, etc. only once a week? How effective is it when the equipment is only being sanitized on Saturdays when these atheletes are there every day using that equipment.

Answer: It is hard to know how often they need to be sanitized to control a locker room outbreak of MRSA. The research has not been done yet. Some schools have eliminated their outbreaks with improved hygiene in students, increased awareness of how the bacterium is transmitted, frequent hand-washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers and weekly sanitization of equipment.

Question: How fast can it spread? Who is at most risk?

Answer: It can spread fairly quickly in locker rooms -- days to weeks. Contact-sports teams are the most risk for the community-aquired MRSA in schools. Hospilized patients or persons with frequent contact with health-care settings are most at risk for the hospital-aquired MRSA.

Question: Is MRSA sexually transmitted?

Answer: Yes, sex partners of patients with community-aquired MRSA can get it from their partner. It is due to close skin contact and not genital contact.

Question: How do you treat something that is drug resistant?

Answer: It is not resistant to all antibiotics. Just one of the common classes. Usually, surgical drainage will relieve most of the symptoms.

Question: I am a student at East Forsyth HS, and I'm so scarred that I could get it. What could I do to keep safe? Without being rude to the football players?

Answer: Great question. Actually, the odds of you getting this are very, very low. In fact, most of the football players will not have the infection or carry the bacterium. The only way you could get it from them if they do, is to have close personal contact with them or to share a personal item with them such as a towel, sports equipment, etc. Also, washing your hands with soap and water for 30 seconds a few times per day or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer periodically will kill the bacterium on your hands if you do pick it up.

Question: How can I learn if I am a carrier? Do the local hospitals check patients when they are admitted?

Answer: In most cases it will not be necessary to find out if you are a carrier. Only if you have been directed to do so by a health care provider or public health official. Yes, many hospitals do check to see if their admitted or recently admitted patients are carriers. If they are, we put them in a single room and use gowns and gloves when caring for them so we do not spread it to other patients.

Question: Hey, I am in middle school. Is there still a chance to get it. I also play softball What are the risks?

Answer: Baseball and softball players do not get it as often. I have not seen a baseball or softball player with one yet.

Question: A friend of my daughter's had MRSA in September, and she never missed school. If my daughter were exposed to it, how long before symptoms would show?

Answer: Usually after a week or so and the likelihood of symptoms goes down after a few weeks.

Question: I am a student at Starmount High School, and I would like to know what kind of detergent I can use to protect from bringing MRSA home on my clothes. And also my friends are telling me hand sanitizer doesnt work after a while of using it. Is that true?

Answer: Good questions. Any usual detergent and hot water in a washing machine will sanitize your clothing. A bit of bleach could help. It is not true that hand sanitizer will stop working after a while. It will keep on working as long as you keep on using it.

Question: How is it that as long as the person covers the wound and does not come in personal contact with another, keep the infection from spreading? How can the schools allow someone to return with an open wound "as long as the wound is covered?" Is this infection not spreadable by the infected person not cleaning their hands properly then touching an object and then another student coming along an touching the same object?

Answer: Yes, covering the wound with a close bandage and frequent hand washing will keep the bacteria from spreading. For patients on contact sports teams most coaches will keep them from playing or being in the locker room until there infection has been treated and they are on antibiotics and the wound is no longer draining. They should keep it covered with a bandage until it scabs over.

Question: What about using the YMCA? We use the gym equipment all the time. This is pretty darned scary! Thanks.

Answer: Same thing for the Y as the schools. Do not share towels. Shower well with soap and wash your hands frequently. Many of the Ys are now sanitizing their common equipment periodically. You can ask your Y if they are doing so.

Question: I had it for months and finally 30 days of sulfer seems to have worked. My wife is on a 60-day perscription for hers. My dentist is pregnant and won't see me until I am out of the woods. It's been three weeks since I have finished my medication. I do not have any symptoms. Is it safe for me to get my teeth cleaned?

Answer: Yes. You can now get your teeth cleaned.

Question: I'm a healthcare worker came into contact with a patient who had MRSA. There were dried up sores all over her, but she claimed she was not contagious any more. Is this true, or are you still contagious until the sores have disappeared? I took all precautions and disinfected all equipment.

Answer: We usually keep patients who have had MRSA isolated even after they looked cured unless we prove through cultures that they are no longer carriers.