 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The most pressing question now, experts say, is how to control the problem.
Screening can be effective but is also controversial. Many people without apparent infection carry the bug and can still spread it. "That's an issue that's really unresolved at this point," Chapnick said. "Logistically, it is very hard to do a culture on every patient. We don't have any proof that that measure by itself is beneficial."
Indeed, the authors say screening of high-risk patients, in tandem with hygiene and education, is more likely to make a real dent in transmission rates.
Text Continues Below
Hand hygiene is also extremely important, for health care workers and for "regular" individuals. "If we could, all of us, to do better at hand hygiene, I think that's far and away the biggest bang for the buck," Chapnick said.
In the community, people should avoid activities such as communal bathing and sharing towels.
And antibiotics should be reserved only for bacteria, not viruses. "The next piece of the puzzle is using antibiotics better, not just prescribers but also consumers," Chapnick said.
These advisories are taking on a new importance in light of recent developments.
The Lancet article points out that new MRSA clones have emerged in the community that combine antibiotic resistance with easy transmissibility and virulence. The worry is that these could take hold in hospitals, where patients are particularly vulnerable.
An accompanying commentary by Dr. Ian Gould, of the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland, points out that the bug can be extremely destructive.
During the 1950s, a virulent staphylococci caused sepsis (blood infection) in 30 percent of those it colonized. And, during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, staphylococcal pneumonia was a leading cause of death in the young.
"What will happen if there is another influenza pandemic, and we have done nothing to control community-acquired MRSA?" Gould asked.
More information
Find out more about community-acquired MRSA at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov ).
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
.gif)
