The return of MRSA in a post pandemic world

Abstract

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19 virus), society has, and continues to, excessively clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that come into contact with our hands. The COVID-19 virus has been declared a public health emergency by a myriad of health organizations world-wide. While the symptoms of COVID-19 vary, the intensive use of disinfectants in society, associated with COVID-19 pandemic, may give rise to a new pandemic in the form of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The reaction of the public’s response to COVID-19 pandemic has increased the cleanliness and disinfection of surfaces that may manifest into a new outbreak, because MRSA has the ability to adapt to a changing environment. The effects of consistent use of hand sanitizers could ultimately alter the human microbiome; which, in-turn, creates a change in the diversity of the microbial community, reducing competition and other interactions among the normally diverse microbial communities, leading to possible expansive growth of antimicrobial resistant bacteria, thus making humans more susceptible to not only MRSA, but also other infectious diseases. This article is an overview pertaining to the overuse of hand sanitizers, characteristics of MRSA, its diagnosis, clinical features, and preventive measures to avoid a future MRSA outbreak.