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Watch out for the superbug Date published: 12/30/2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I.--The public has been alerted about outbreaks of infection caused by MRSA (pronounced "mersa"), an abbreviation for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, nicknamed "Superbug." Numerous incidents of infection and several deaths have been reported recently, prompting school officials to close their schools to allow cleaning personnel armed with mops and buckets of disinfectant to march in to sanitize buses, classrooms, cafeterias, and gymnasiums. Person-to-person exposure is the usual mode of transmission through contact with infected skin lesions, nasal discharges, and contaminated hands or by contact with recently contaminated objects as, for example, towels and gym mats. MRSA is not an infection, but refers to a property of "staph," namely, its resistance to the antibiotic methicillin. The Staphylcococcal species is part of the normal flora of the skin and, for the most part, is not a disease producer. About half the population carries the potential disease-producing S. aureus on their skin, hair, and in their throat, and about 25 percent harbor this organism in their nose; occasionally, it causes serious infection.S. aureus causes disease ranging from pimples and localized skin infections to life-threatening infection when it invades the blood and colonizes the internal organs; it produces a variety of toxins that lead to serious damage. This is what recently caused the death of a 17-year-old boy in Virginia. Treatment was unsuccessful because the staph were resistant to methicillin. Other deaths have occurred following a similar scenario.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA accounted for 94,360 life-threatening infections and close to 19,000 deaths in 2005. MRSA kills more Americans each year than does AIDS. The distribution of these cases as cited in an Oct. 17 Journal of the American Medical Association report is cause for alarm. About 85 percent of the cases were associated with hospitals and other health facilities, as would be expected. Disturbingly, most of the rest of the cases (14 percent) were in people with no known exposure in a hospital setting, indicating that MRSA is no longer confined to health-care facilities, but has escaped. So schools, prisons, and other environments harboring large populations in close contact are being scrubbed down and methicillin, an antibiotic, is being used to treat people with the infection.
Date published: 12/30/2007
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