MRSA in the nose
The front of the nostrils is where MRSA most often lives. Usually it causes nothing at all — but it can also cause a stubborn nasal sore, and it is the main reservoir from which MRSA spreads to skin and to other people.
The short answer
MRSA in the nose is most often colonisation, not infection: the bacteria live harmlessly inside the nostrils and cause no symptoms. Around 2% of the general population carries MRSA, most commonly in the nose. Carriage matters because it raises the risk of a later skin or surgical-site infection and because it spreads to others on the hands.
When nasal MRSA does become an infection, the usual picture is a persistent, tender, crusted sore or a small boil just inside one nostril that does not clear with ordinary care.
MRSA in nose symptoms
- Persistent soreness, burning, or stinging inside one nostril
- Redness and swelling at the nostril rim
- Crusting or a scab that keeps returning after it is picked off
- A small painful pimple, pustule, or boil at the edge of the nostril
- Thick yellow or green discharge lasting more than a week or two
- Occasional nosebleeds from cracked, inflamed skin
- Boils or spots appearing elsewhere on the skin at the same time
- Rarely, facial pain or fever if the infection reaches the sinuses
Skin lesions that appear alongside nasal symptoms are covered on MRSA skin infection and MRSA boil.
Carriage vs infection vs a cold
| Silent carriage | Nasal MRSA infection | Common cold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | Indefinite — weeks to years | Persistent sore that worsens over days to weeks | Improves within 7–10 days |
| Pain | None | Tender, burning, often one nostril only | General stuffiness, no localised tenderness |
| Appearance | Normal-looking nostrils | Redness, crusting, scabs, pimples or a boil at the rim | Red, chapped skin from wiping |
| Discharge | Normal | Thick yellow-green, sometimes blood-streaked | Clear then thicker, then clears up |
| Other symptoms | None | Sometimes skin boils elsewhere; rarely fever | Sneezing, sore throat, cough |
| Diagnosis | Screening nasal swab | Nasal swab culture with susceptibility testing | Clinical — no swab needed |
| Treatment | Decolonisation if high-risk or recurrent | Mupirocin nasal ointment; oral antibiotics if spreading | Rest and fluids only |
MRSA and ordinary staph look identical in the nose; only laboratory testing separates them. See MSSA vs MRSA.
How nasal MRSA is diagnosed
A clinician rotates a sterile swab just inside both nostrils — the anterior nares — for a few seconds. The sample is either cultured for 24–48 hours or run through a PCR test that returns a result in a few hours. If MRSA grows, the laboratory also reports which antibiotics will work.
Full detail on swabs, culture, and susceptibility reporting is on the MRSA test page.
Treatment and clearing nasal carriage
The standard decolonisation regimen is a pea-sized amount of mupirocin (Bactroban) nasal ointment in each nostril twice daily for five days, usually combined with chlorhexidine body washing. Where mupirocin resistance is a concern, alternatives such as nasal povidone-iodine are used instead.
If there is active infection rather than carriage, an oral antibiotic that covers MRSA may be added — see decolonisation and treating MRSA skin infection.
Stopping it spreading from your nose
- Wash or sanitise hands every time you touch or blow your nose
- Use disposable tissues once and bin them immediately
- Avoid picking or rubbing the inside of the nostril
- Do not share towels, flannels, razors, or bedding
- Wash bedding and towels on the hottest cycle the fabric allows
- Keep any skin lesions covered with a clean dry dressing
More on household spread is on MRSA at home and is MRSA contagious?
See a doctor if
- A nasal sore or crust lasts more than two weeks
- There is a painful lump inside or at the edge of the nostril
- You develop fever, facial pain, or swelling around the nose or eye
- Boils keep coming back on your skin
- You are due surgery, on dialysis, or immunosuppressed
Infection spreading beyond the skin is covered on invasive MRSA.
Frequently asked questions
- CDC. MRSA: people at risk and healthcare settings (2024)
- NHS. MRSA — Overview and screening (2023)
- IDSA. Clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of MRSA infections in adults and children (2011)
- Clinical Microbiology Reviews. Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus: epidemiology and clinical relevance (1997)
Symptoms hub
Overview of MRSA symptoms and day-by-day progression.
What does MRSA look like?
Bumps, boils, abscesses and cellulitis — every visual form.
MRSA rash
Does MRSA cause a rash? Look-alikes and how to tell them apart.
MRSA skin infection
Types, diagnosis, treatment, and when skin MRSA becomes dangerous.
MRSA boil
Deep, painful, pus-filled lumps and how they are drained.
MRSA cellulitis
Spreading deeper-skin infection and urgent warning signs.
MRSA folliculitis
Small pus-filled bumps around hair follicles and prevention.
MRSA pneumonia
Hospital, ventilator-associated and necrotising lung infection.
MRSA bacteremia
MRSA in the bloodstream — how it gets there and how it's treated.
MRSA sepsis
Can MRSA cause sepsis? Warning signs and survival rates.
Invasive MRSA
How MRSA reaches the bloodstream, lungs and bone.
MRSA test
PCR nasal swab, wound culture and susceptibility testing.
MSSA vs MRSA
Same bacterium, different antibiotic susceptibility.
Staph infection vs pimple
How to tell a normal pimple from a staph or MRSA skin lesion.