Superbug Infections on the Rise, Report Finds: Drug-Resistant Staph Cases Becoming More Common Outsi

Jun 26, 02:11 AM

Current Headlines: By Kawanza Newson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jun. 26--Drug-resistant staph infections might be 11 times more prevalent than previously believed, a new report shows.

More troubling, the dangerous infection typically seen in surgical patients is also appearing in patients in the intensive care unit, say the findings, which were reported Monday by a professionals association based in Washington, D.C.

"This is a wake-up call for hospitals to provide resources to look for this and implement measures of control," said William Jarvis, author of the study and a former medical epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections occur frequently among people who have been hospitalized or who have been taking antibiotics for an extended period.

However, these infections have also become increasingly common among people who haven't been near hospitals or other health care settings.

The drug-resistant infection is not a reportable illness in Wisconsin, but some Milwaukee doctors say they've been seeing more community-associated MRSA infections in their practices.

"Any bug that defeats a primary medical countermeasure is of public health concern," said Paul Biedrzycki, the Milwaukee Health Department's manager of disease control and prevention. "Overcoming this line of defense creates the opportunity for uninhibited, rapid spread through the community."

Previously, the CDC estimated that 3.9 out of every 1,000 patients picked up the infection in the hospital.

But the new report says that 46 out of every 1,000 patients seen at more than 1,200 health care facilities nationwide, including 48 Wisconsin sites, were infected with the bacteria at the hospital. Seventy-seven percent of the infected patients were identified within 48 hours of admission, suggesting that most patients already had the superbug in their systems before they arrived. The authors say it was likely acquired in a previous stay in a health care facility or in the community.

Staph bacteria normally are carried on the skin or in the noses of healthy people.

If staph enters the body, which usually happens through cuts on the skin, it can cause infections from pimples and boils that can be treated without antibiotics to more serious complications such as surgical-wound infections, bloodstream infections and pneumonia.

"Investing in infection control not only saves lives, it also saves money and is good business sense," said Kathy Warye, chief executive officer of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the group that released the report.

Hospitals have implemented more stringent hand-washing protocols and are actively screening some of their high-risk patients for the bacteria. Those who test positive are placed into isolation, and staff members that come into contact with them must wear gowns, gloves and sometimes masks.

"MRSA is just one of many organisms we're constantly looking at," said Charles Edmiston, a professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin and epidemiologist with Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. "There's always been a concern that we'd see more patients coming in who are already colonized," that is, have the bug without symptoms, "and we're now beginning to see this."

Froedtert Hospital took part in the survey.

"It seems to be so deeply embedded in the community that I don't think it's going to go away," said Gerald Dorff, hospital epidemiologist and director of medical quality at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-St. Joseph.

That's why it's important to initiate better surveillance and communication between what's happening in the community and the hospitals, Biedrzycki said.

"People in the hospital represent the most susceptible population, and the procedures that occur there present tremendous opportunity for patients not only to become infected, but to transmit that infection," he said.

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