The Risk of MRSA in Tattooing
What is MRSA?

MRSA is a bacteria that causes potentially serious and contagious skin and soft tissue infections.  MRSA is an abbreviation for "Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus."  Staphylococcus (commonly referred to simply as "staph") is a bacteria found on the skin.  MRSA, however, is a strain of staph that not only appears to be more virulent than run-of-the-mill staph, but has also developed resistance to many different antibiotics.  It gains its name, MRSA, from being resistant to Methicillin, a type of penicillin that is seldom used in clinical practice, but which is used by laboratories to test bacteria for penicillin resistance.  MRSA is usually also resistant to many other types of antibiotics as well.  Although MRSA was at one time limited to hospitals, it has long since become a community-acquired infection and is on the rise.

What are the Symptoms of MRSA?

MRSA often causes spontaneous skin infections such as abscesses ("boils") and cellulitis (superficial skin infections characterized by redness, pain, and swelling of the skin).  Many patients who present to the hospital with MRSA-related abscesses mistakenly believe they were the victim of a "spider bites".  Many patients with MRSA in fact will have multiple abscesses, another hallmark of MRSA infection.


How Does MRSA Affect Tattoo Shops?

MRSA is contagious!  A customer carrying MRSA on their skin can spread this infection to your tattoo chair, surfaces, equipment, and restroom.  This places you and your customers at risk for acquiring the infection.  Not only will MRSA infect a new tattoo, but it can also cause diffuse infections unrelated to the tattoo itself. 

A New Liability Issue for Tattoo Shops?

We recently declined service to a prospective customer upon seeing multiple skin lesions on his arms and referred him to his primary care physician who confirmed MRSA by wound cultures.  He had recently been tattooed at another professional tattoo shop in town and at least one of their artists was also infected.  I'm not aware of any legal actions that resulted from this particular case, however insurance companies are now selling liability coverage to tattoo shops for MRSA-related claims.  Clearly protecting your business and your customers from MRSA is an important part of a safe practice.

How to Prevent MRSA?

Your tattoo shop needs to have a stated sterilization policy to prevent the spread of MRSA.  Prospective customers who have active sores on their skin should be asked to follow up with a physician for evaluation to decrease the risk of spreading MRSA.  All surfaces and equipment that come into contact with customers need to cleaned with surface disinfectants that are proven to kill MRSA.  Literally *everything* that a human being touches in your shop should be disinfected.  Imperial Tattoo Supply offers Super Sani-Cloth Wipes from PDI to kill MRSA on contact!



The Danger of Unlicensed Tattoo Shops

A professional tattoo shop should understand MRSA and how to prevent it.  Unlicensed tattoo shops have been linked to outbreaks of MRSA.  In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report on the spread of MRSA from 13 tattoo artists (all unlicensed) in three states.  Clearly poor sterilization practices is a significant risk to the spread of MRSA, and it should serve as a warning to professional tattoo shops to maintain vigilance with respect to MRSA.  The spread of infectious diseases in unlicensed tattoo environments is the strongest argument why tattoo equipment supply companies should follow Imperial Tattoo Supply's lead and *never* sell tattoo needles to amateur tattoo artists!

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