<s>[INST] Hi, my friend was recently diagnosed with having myrsa, a staph infection.. He was put on an intravenous antibiotics when initially diagnosed, along with taking an antibiotic in pill form. My question is how long after starting antibiotics is he still contagious? [/INST] Hello, I understand your concern. I am Chat Doctor, infectious diseases specialist, answering your query. MRSA us the methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus. This type of bugs are resistant to routinely prescribed antibiotics. Vancomycin is the choice of Chat Doctor. Such a patient are contagious to others if other uses their belongings like napkins, towels handkerchief etc. Once the gross infection is treated by the vancomycin, mupirocin is used to clear up the residual flora. Once the patient is all clear up with the mupirocin they are free of their contagiousness. I will be happy to answer your further concern, you can ask me on bit.ly/ </s>