|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) The deadly superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, (MRSA), which is resistant to most common antibiotics, poses a far greater health threat than previously thought.
A study, which analyzed data from more than 300 microbiology labs, found a seven-fold increase in "community-associated" strains of MRSA in outpatient hospital units between 1999 and 2006.
Because doctors and patients often move back and forth between inpatient and outpatient units, this increase poses a real threat to patient safety.
Text Continues Below
"This emerging epidemic of community-associated MRSA strains appears to add to the already high MRSA burden in hospitals," Ramanan Laxminarayan, principal investigator for the Washington, D.C.-based think-tank Extending the Cure, which examines policy solutions to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, was quoted as saying.
Researchers found that the proportion of MRSA increased more than 90 percent among outpatients with staph and now accounts for more than 50 percent of all Staphylococcus aureus infections. The findings suggest that this was due almost entirely to an increase in community-associated strains, which jumped from 3.6 percent of all MRSA infections to 28.2 percenta seven-fold jump from 1999 to 2006. Similar increases in inpatients suggest that these strains are spreading rapidly into hospitals as well.
MRSA kills an estimated 20,000 people in the United States each year. The superbug can attack wounds and trigger potentially lethal blood stream infections. Community-associated strains, while generally less virulent and susceptible to more antibiotics, can still cause significant morbidity and mortality.
"MRSA has generally been a significant problem only in hospitals," Eili Klein, lead author and researcher was quoted as saying. "But the findings from this study suggest that there is a significant reservoir in the community as well."
"The movement of community-associated strains into the hospital also points to the urgent need for rapid tests that can identify the strain of MRSA," Klein said. Some MRSA strains, particularly those coming into the outpatient departments, are vulnerable to a wider range of cheap antibiotics. With a rapid test, a hospital doctor could prescribe a cheaper, but still effective drug to combat an infectiona strategy that would reduce health care costs and preserve the nation's supply of antibiotics.
SOURCE: Emerging Infectious Diseases, December 2009
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
|
.gif)
