sick friend contagious? - General Health Message Board

strawberries87 · 03-02-2009, 10:52 PM

Hey
I have this friend who has just had a bump taken out of her breast ( she said it was really big and growing) and she had wounds on her arms and she claims to have had surgery to get other bumps taken out under her arms and on the other side of one.
Someone said it was Mrsa??? Im not sure if that is true or not.
Im worried that because I shared drinks and ciggerettes with her I might have it if its contagious. I obviously know tumors are not contagious but I think mrsa is.
Any input, and does Mrsa cause tumors?!

janewhite1 · 03-03-2009, 07:18 AM

MRSA can cause boils or cysts. These are not the same thing as tumors, they are lumps, though.

MRSA is spread by direct contact. The thing is, unless you have an open wound or your immune system is weak, you can have MRSA on your skin and be totally fine. MRSA is not inherently worse than the other bacteria that are all around anyway, it's just harder to cure if you do get an infection from it.

Of course, you don't even know that this is what she had. Bottom line, don't worry too much. In the unlikely event that you get a boil or an infected cut, mention that you may have been exposed to MRSA.