In the News: MRSA Infections
JAMA Patient page
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/298/15/1826
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacterium. Staph bacteria, like other kinds of bacteria, frequently live on the skin and in the nose without causing health problems. Staph becomes a problem when it is a source of infection. These bacteria can be spread from one person to another through casual contact or through contaminated objects. Infections with MRSA are more difficult to treat than ordinary Staph infections because these strains of bacteria are resistant to many types of
antibiotics—the medicines used to treat bacterial infections. Infections can occur in wounds, burns, and other sites where tubes have been inserted into the body. In 2005, there were an estimated 94 360 cases of MRSA infections in the United States. MRSA that is acquired in a hospital is called
hospital-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA). MRSA infections are now becoming more common in healthy, nonhospitalized persons. . . .
CNN article
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/18/mrsa.cases/index.html
Students at a high school in Virginia prepared Thursday for the funeral of a popular classmate, the victim of a deadly drug-resistant strain of bacteria that has turned up in schools across the country recently.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services - MRSA Update
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/MRSA.pdf
Meckelenberg, NC County Health Dept
Preventing MRSA in the Athletic Setting (Video)
JAMA 2007 Oct 17;298(15):1763-71.
http://mulibraries.1cate.com/?sid=1cate.com%3Agenerator&pmid=17940231
Invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States.
CONTEXT: As the epidemiology of infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) changes, accurate information on the scope and magnitude of MRSA infections in the US population is needed. OBJECTIVES: To describe the incidence and distribution of invasive MRSA disease in 9 US communities and to estimate the burden of invasive MRSA infections in the United States in 2005. DESIGN AND SETTING: Active, population-based surveillance for invasive MRSA in 9 sites participating in the Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs)/Emerging Infections Program Network from July 2004 through December 2005. Reports of MRSA were investigated and classified as either health care-associated (either hospital-onset or community-onset) or community-associated (patients without established health care risk factors for MRSA). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence rates and estimated number of invasive MRSA infections and in-hospital deaths among patients with MRSA in the United States in 2005; interval estimates of incidence excluding 1 site that appeared to be an outlier with the highest incidence; molecular characterization of infecting strains. RESULTS: There were 8987 observed cases of invasive MRSA reported during the surveillance period. Most MRSA infections were health care-associated: 5250 (58.4%) were community-onset infections, 2389 (26.6%) were hospital-onset infections; 1234 (13.7%) were community-associated infections, and 114 (1.3%) could not be classified. In 2005, the standardized incidence rate of invasive MRSA was 31.8 per 100,000 (interval estimate, 24.4-35.2). Incidence rates were highest among persons 65 years and older (127.7 per 100,000; interval estimate, 92.6-156.9), blacks (66.5 per 100,000; interval estimate, 43.5-63.1), and males (37.5 per 100,000; interval estimate, 26.8-39.5). There were 1598 in-hospital deaths among patients with MRSA infection during the surveillance period. In 2005, the standardized mortality rate was 6.3 per 100,000 (interval estimate, 3.3-7.5). Molecular testing identified strains historically associated with community-associated disease outbreaks recovered from cultures in both hospital-onset and community-onset health care-associated infections in all surveillance areas. CONCLUSIONS:
Invasive MRSA infection affects certain populations disproportionately. It is a major public health problem primarily related to health care but no longer confined to intensive care units, acute care hospitals, or any health care institution.
