Threat of MRSA superbug under-estimated

Jun 26 2007

According to the Center for Disease Control in the United States (CDC), MRSA (Methicillin-Associated Staphylococcus Aureus) infections continue to be a concern for hospitals worldwide and now account for more than 50% of hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections.

A survey carried out by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), has found it is in fact as much as 10 times more prevalent than health officials had previously estimated and APIC says the threat posed by MRSA cannot be overstated.

The APIC study suggests that at least 30,000 U.S. hospital patients may have the superbug at any given time and the dangerous, drug-resistant staph infection may be infecting as many as 5 percent of hospital and nursing home patients.

MRSA is contagious and is associated with quite nasty skin infections, but can also cause blood infections, pneumonia and other serious illnesses.

In recent years, "community-associated" outbreaks have occurred in institutions such as prisons, and aged care facilities as well as among children and athletes, where the infection has been spread through skin contact or sharing items such as towels.

In 1972, MRSA accounted for only two percent of all hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections reported to the CDC; today, MRSA accounts for more than 60 percent of Staphylococcus aureus infections.

APIC is an international organization representing more than 11,000 infection control experts, and it has now released a guide for institutions with step-by-step instructions for eliminating MRSA transmission in a hospital.

Federal health officials have yet to comment on the study but say they welcome attention to the problem.

Previous studies have concentrated on how common the superbug is in specific patient groups, such as emergency-room patients with skin infections, dialysis patients or patients admitted to intensive care.

The APIC survey was larger and represented 1,237 hospitals and nursing homes; a more diverse range of health care facilities were sampled and included cases in which the bacterium was merely present in a patient and not necessarily causing disease.

The APIC researchers estimated that at least 46 out of every 1,000 patients have the MRSA bug and the organisation has come up with guidelines to help institutions deal with MRSA.

The guidelines include:-

• consistent and comprehensive retrieval systems for laboratory culture reports; collaboration between microbiology laboratory staff and healthcare providers;

• proper hand hygiene;

• isolation of infected patients;

• strict procedures applied to all equipment used on or around them in order to avoid the transfer of microorganisms to other patients or environments.

APIC say the proper cleaning and decontamination of the environment and all equipment is critical because MRSA can survive outside the human body for up to 56 days on patient charts, tabletops and cloth curtains.

APIC says "highrisk" groups include: long-term care residents, patients with recent or frequent hospitalizations, dialysis patients, athletes, veterinarians, IV drug users, and those in jail.

APIC suggests a successful preventative program will depend to a large extent on the participation and support from all staff at all levels.

Many hospitals listed additional cost as one of the most common problems in efforts to prevent and control MRSA.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems.

MRSA infections that are acquired by persons who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are known as CA-MRSA infections. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people.