A study appearing in the
Journal of the American Medical Association, reported
that MRSA was responsible for 94,000 serious infections
and nearly 19,000 deaths in the United States in 2005. |
MRSA,
also known as the “flesh eating virus” methicillin
resistant Staphylococcus aureus is used to describe organism
that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics and that are
responsible for many hard-to-treat infections in humans. MRSA
is a variation of
Staphylococcus
aureus (Staph infection), a common bacterium, which
can genetically evolve to survive treatment from antibiotics,
and has the capability to genetically adapt into new bacterium.
MRSA outbreaks are increasing at a shocking rate, the
CDC
recently reported,
“It appears that more people
in the U.S. now die from the mostly hospital-acquired staph
infection MRSA than from AIDS.”
Staph bacteria MRSA colonies can survive on the skin or in
the nose of healthy individuals without causing any symptoms
of disease. However, injury to the skin (e.g. scrape or cut)
can allow an opportunity for bacteria to enter the skin and
cause an infection.
Infections caused by Staph or MRSA are usually mild, however,
in rare cases, if left untreated or not recognized early,
MRSA infections can be difficult to treat and can progress
to life-threatening blood or bone infections, due to limited
treatment options.
MRSA is especially troublesome in hospital and sports acquired
infections. Individuals can become carriers of MRSA in the
same way that they can become a carrier of ordinary Staphylococcus
aureus, which is by physical contact with the organism from
skin, mouth, air, etc. The increasing frequency of antimicrobial
resistance and the increasing outbreak rate of MRSA has become
a great concern for not only parents, athletes and school
officials, but also election and government officials, as
we enter into the 2008 political season.
MRSA was first discovered in 1961 in the UK, but it is now
found worldwide and closer to “home” than you
may think.
MRSA Link
MRSA