What is the Incubation Period for MRSA?
Incubation period is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first apparent.
Few infectious disease have precisely definable incubation periods. Typically, incubation periods are expressed as a time range (e.g. 1-3 days in the case of influenza). When
Incubation Period for MRSA Infections in Humans
MRSA is the acronym widely used formethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacterial infections. It generally takes 1-10 days for signs of a MRSA infection to appear after a person has become infected with MRSA. However, many people may carry the MRSA infection but never show symptoms.
The incubation period for Staphylococcus aureus infections in humans is highly variable and indefinite, commonly 4-10 days; disease may not occur until several months after colonization. †
Incubation Period for MRSA Infections in Animals
As with humans, the incubation period for animal MRSA infections varies with the syndrome. Animals can be colonized for variable periods of time without developing clinical disease. ††
- † Staphylococcus aureus - Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), Public Health Agency of Canada [↩]
- †† Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus [↩]
