More kids have head, neck MRSA infections

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More kids have head, neck MRSA infections Lindsey Tanner, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 01.20.2009http://www.azstarne t.com/news/ 276623.phpOn the Net • Archives: www.archoto. com• CDC: www.cdc.gov/ ncidod/dhqp/ ar_mrsa.htmlCHICAGO — Researchers say they found an "alarming" increase in children's ear, nose and throat infections nationwide caused by dangerous drug-resistant staph germs. Other studies have shown rising numbers of skin infections in adults and children caused by these germs, known as MRSA, but this is the first nationwide report on how common they are in deeper tissue infections in the head and neck, the study authors said. These include certain ear and sinus infections, and abscesses that can form in the tonsils and throat.

The study found a total of 21,009 pediatric head and neck infections caused by staph germs from 2001 through 2006. The percentage caused by hard-to-treat MRSA bacteria more than doubled during that time from almost 12 percent to 28 percent. "In most parts of the United States, there's been an alarming rise," said study author Dr. Steven Sobol, a children's head and neck specialist at Emory University. The study appears in January's Archives of Otolaryngology, released Monday. It is based on nationally representative information from an electronic database that collects lab results from more than 300 hospitals nationwide.MRSA, or methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus, can cause dangerous, life-threatening invasive infections, and doctors believe inappropriate use of antibiotics has contributed to its rise. The study didn't look at the severity of MRSA illness in the affected children. Almost 60 percent

of the MRSA infections found in the study were thought to have been contracted outside a hospital setting. Dr. Robert Daum, a University of Chicago expert in community-acquired MRSA, said the study should serve as an alert to agencies that fund U.S. research "that this is a major public health problem." MRSA infections were once limited mostly to hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care settings, but other studies have shown they are increasingly picked up in the community, in otherwise healthy people. MRSA does not respond to penicillin-based antibiotics, and doctors are concerned that it is becoming resistant to others.“Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subject to the rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, omnipresent teacher.

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