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Superbugs Reaching Epidemic Stage

Med Headlines - A new study from the University of Florida (UF) reports the spread of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections is reaching epidemic proportions in some healthcare centers and in some communities in general.  The potentially lethal drug-resistant strain of the Staph bacterium, known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), is responsible for almost 280,000 hospitalizations in 2005, doubling the 1999 count of 127,000 hospitalizations. Methicillin had been highly effective in controlling staph infections before the drug-resistant strain of the bacterium emerged.

Hospitalizations from staph infections in general rose 62% nationwide during the same time period.

MRSA enters the body at the site of wounds and can lead to fatal cases of blood poisoning and pneumonia.

Many patients hospitalized for other reasons become infected during their hospital confinement and about 90,000 patients die each year from infections contracted while in the hospital. MRSA infection is the number six leading cause of death in the US.

Contracting the MRSA infection in the hospital can lead to longer stays, with treatment costs running as high as $35,000 per case, increasing the direct cost to the patient by as much as 100%.

The MRSA bacterium is called the superbug because it has become resistant to most drugs that have been used traditionally to treat staph infections. There is one powerful antibiotic, vancomycin, that has proven effective in treating MRSA infection but the bacterium is already showing resistance to this treatment, too.

Describing the situation as “out of control,” UF faculty member David Smith and colleagues suggest making MRSA infection a public health priority calling for national research and unified reporting efforts. Other efforts suggested are investment of resources needed to develop a staph vaccine and improved infection-control measures in medical care facilities.

Details of the UF study can be found in the December 2007 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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