MRSA bacteria called a worse health threat than SARS or bird flu

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Per link, 1 in 100 Americans, or 3,000,000 people are carriers.

The bugs, like extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing coliforms,

are mutated bacteria which are found in the gut, such as E-coli. The

pathogens produce enzymes that break down antibiotics and pose the

greatest risk to patients with weak immune systems.

 

What's Going Around San Diego

<http://www.kfmb.com/features/healthcast/story.php?id=61651>

KFMB, CA - 23 hours ago

.... Like all staph bacteria, MRSA can be spread from one person to

another through casual contact or through contaminated objects

MRSA Bacteria Changes Student Athletics

<http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_240200144.html>

KDKA, PA - Aug 28, 2006

.... the dangerous bacteria MRSA has changed things. ...

Athletes at higher risk for MRSA infection

<http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/living/health/15379337\

..htm>

Monterey County Herald, CA - Aug 28, 2006

.... Absent such precautions, people who carry the MRSA bacteria, with or

without showing symptoms -- it's estimated that 1 percent of the US

population is ...

MRSA bacteria called a worse health threat than SARS or bird flu

<http://www.newstarget.com/020064.html>

Newstarget.com, Taiwan - Aug 21, 2006

*NEW RESEARCH* British blackcurrants reduce chances of MRSA! ...

<http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=26853 & hili\

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Response Source (press release), UK - Aug 24, 2006

NEW remarkable scientific research into this small but mighty superfood

has been found to effectively prevent the dreaded MRSA bacteria that

lurks in our ...

Study Debunks Staph Bacteria Scare in Synthetic Turf

<http://www.solanconews.com/Farm/PAAG/2006/060830_staph.htm>

 

MRSA bacteria called a worse health threat than SARS or bird flu

 

Originally published August 21 2006

 

(NewsTarget) Infectious disease experts from across the United

States recently suggested that MRSA -- an antibiotic-resistant

infection often acquired in hospital settings -- is a more immediate

threat to public health than bird flu or SARS.

 

A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine

revealed MRSA (methicillin-resistant Syaphylococcus aureus) to be

the most common cause of skin infection in adults in 11 emergency

rooms examined. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

estimate that MRSA causes 90,000 serious infections a year,

resulting in 17,000 deaths.

 

Many hospitals across the country have responded with programs to

test patients for MRSA in hopes of stopping the problem. For

example, last week Veterans Affairs Hospital began testing everyone

for the bacteria when they are admitted and discharged. Other

hospitals have started more limited testing, restricting the tests

to high-risk patients and isolating infected patients.

 

MRSA has appeared in hospitals since the 1960s, and in the 1990s the

bacteria began appearing in athletes, prisoners, military personnel

and intravenous drug users outside hospitals. Experts found that a

new form of MRSA was being spread by sharing razors and towels,

touching contaminated surfaces such as gym machines and being in

close contact with infected people. The infection causes skin lesion

such as pimples or boils that are frequently misdiagnosed as spider

bites.

 

To motivate more states to take action to prevent MRSA infections,

13 states have started to require public reporting of hospital-

acquired infections. Currently 17 other states have similar

legislation pending.

 

Experts say MRSA infections should be reported on a national level

to help focus prevention efforts. " We're counting cases of chicken

pox and measles, for which there are vaccines, " says Dr. William

Jarvis, an infection control consultant. " We should be counting

MRSA. "

 

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