[Tobra]

In a word, Yes.

For years, pedi docs(no offens meant Markus, sounds like you have a more rational approach in the land of the midnight sun) have written antibiotics when they knew the odds were 95% it was a viral problem and they would not help a bit.

Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus is just that, resistant to methicillin(a hot rodded penicillin that is not used much any more) also resistant to a lot of other stuff. They are different ways bacteria defeat antibiotics, but if they are never exposed to an antibiotic, they are more likely to be sensitive to it. MRSA is mainly treated with Vancomycin, a drug only available intravenously, which is a lot more expensive than a pill.

In the recent past, Vancomycin(pretty cool name eh?), which is nasty stuff, was held in reserve and you had to satisfy certain requirements(MRSA or other rare infections that give the infectious disease specialists hard ons, a short list) before you could institute treatment with this drug and it was watched very closely.

Now, it is being used routinely as a prophylactic antibiotic prior to orthopedic surgery involving an implant. Starting to see more resistance. VRE(vanco resistant staph epidermidis, don't ask me why it is not VRSE) has been identified and I personally have been involved with a few cases. Seeing more VISA(S. Aureus with intermediate sensitivity to Vanco)

Here is something that will, or should, get your attention. A large percentage of people are colonized with MRSA in their nares(nostrils), not infected, but carrying it, a la Typhoid Mary. A bit more sunshine for your day; 10-15 years ago, the vast majority of MRSA cases were hospital aquired, it was unheard of for someone who was not a total train wreck hospital victim turned up with it, ie dialysis patient who used to be a heroin addict. Latest numbers I have seen(Sacramento area only), the majority of new MRSA infections are community aquired, which is a little terrifying to me, and I don't rattle easy.