'Superbug' deaths could surpass AIDS Drug-resistant germs becoming more common, Updated: 1:03 p.m. PT Oct 16, 2007 CHICAGO - More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph “superbug,” the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.
Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.
The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That’s an “astounding” figure, said an editorial in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.
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Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections. But this study focused on invasive infections — those that enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and can turn deadly.
Carried by healthy people Researchers found that only about one-quarter involved hospitalized patients. However, more than half were in the health care system — people who had recently had surgery or were on kidney dialysis, for example. Open wounds and exposure to medical equipment are major ways the bug spreads.
In recent years, the resistant germ has become more common in hospitals and it has been spreading through prisons, gyms and locker rooms, and in poor urban neighborhoods.
The new study offers the broadest look yet at the pervasiveness of the most severe infections caused by the bug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. These bacteria can be carried by healthy people, living on their skin or in their noses.
An invasive form of the disease is being blamed for the death Monday of a 17-year-old Virginia high school senior. Doctors said the germ had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and muscles around his heart.
The researchers’ estimates are extrapolated from 2005 surveillance data from nine mostly urban regions considered representative of the country. There were 5,287 invasive infections reported that year in people living in those regions, which would translate to an estimated 94,360 cases nationally, the researchers said.
Most cases were life-threatening bloodstream infections. However, about 10 percent involved so-called flesh-eating disease, according to the study led by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the study, for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate to 18,650 deaths annually, although the researchers don’t know if MRSA was the cause in all cases.
Curb antibiotic use If these deaths all were related to staph infections, the total would exceed other better-known causes of death including AIDS — which killed an estimated 17,011 Americans in 2005 — said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Los Angeles County Health Department, the editorial author.
Preventing staph Antibiotic-resistant staph infections, usually involving the skin, are showing up more often among healthy people. Here are some prevention tips:
— Wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and water. — Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with a bandage until healed. — Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or material contaminated by wounds. — Do not share items such as razors, soap, ointments and balms, towels or wash cloths, clothing or uniforms. — If participating in contact sports, cover cuts, scrapes and other wounds with a bandage. — Shower with soap immediately after each practice or game. Wipe down all nonwashable equipment (mats, head protectors, gymnastics equipment, etc.) with alcohol or antibiotic solution after each person uses it. — If caring for someone with an infection at home, wash hands with soap after each physical contact and before going outside. Only use towels for drying hands once. Change and launder linens frequently, right away if they are soiled. — When contact with body fluids is expected, wear disposable gloves and wash hands after removing them. — See a physician promptly if you have a suspicious skin sore or boil.
Sources: Associated Press, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physician interviews. The results underscore the need for better prevention measures. That includes curbing the overuse of antibiotics and improving hand-washing and other hygiene procedures among hospital workers, said the CDC’s Dr. Scott Fridkin, a study co-author.
Some hospitals have drastically cut infections by first isolating new patients until they are screened for MRSA.
The bacteria don’t respond to penicillin-related antibiotics once commonly used to treat them, partly because of overuse. They can be treated with other drugs but health officials worry that their overuse could cause the germ to become resistant to those, too.
A survey earlier this year suggested that MRSA infections, including noninvasive mild forms, affect 46 out of every 1,000 U.S. hospital and nursing home patients — or as many as 5 percent. These patients are vulnerable because of open wounds and invasive medical equipment that can help the germ spread.
Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, said the JAMA study emphasizes the broad scope of the drug-resistant staph “epidemic,” and highlights the need for a vaccine, which he called “the holy grail of staphylococcal research.”
The regions studied were: the Atlanta metropolitan area; Baltimore, Connecticut; Davidson County, Tenn.; the Denver metropolitan area; Monroe County, NY; the Portland, Ore. metropolitan area; Ramsey County, Minn.; and the San Francisco metropolitan area.
21 schools closed after teen dies of staph Virginia student contracted drug-resistant strain of infection
Updated: 10:42 a.m. PT Oct 16, 2007 BEDFORD, Va. - A high school student who was hospitalized for more than a week with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection has died, and officials shut down 21 schools for cleaning to keep the illness from spreading.
Ashton Bonds, 17, a senior at Staunton River High School, died Monday after being diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, his mother said.
"I want people to know how sick it made my son," Veronica Bonds said.
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Staph infections, including the serious MRSA strain, have spread through schools nationwide in recent weeks, according to health and education officials.
MRSA is a strain of staph bacteria that does not respond to penicillin and related antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs. The infection can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound.
Bedford Superintendent James Blevins said at a news conference Tuesday that the schools will be closed for cleaning Wednesday.
Preventing staph Antibiotic-resistant staph infections, usually involving the skin, are showing up more often among healthy people. Here are some prevention tips:
— Wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and water. — Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with a bandage until healed. — Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or material contaminated by wounds. — Do not share items such as razors, soap, ointments and balms, towels or wash cloths, clothing or uniforms. — If participating in contact sports, cover cuts, scrapes and other wounds with a bandage. — Shower with soap immediately after each practice or game. Wipe down all nonwashable equipment (mats, head protectors, gymnastics equipment, etc.) with alcohol or antibiotic solution after each person uses it. — If caring for someone with an infection at home, wash hands with soap after each physical contact and before going outside. Only use towels for drying hands once. Change and launder linens frequently, right away if they are soiled. — When contact with body fluids is expected, wear disposable gloves and wash hands after removing them. — See a physician promptly if you have a suspicious skin sore or boil.
Sources: Associated Press, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physician interviews. Many of the infections are being spread in gyms and locker rooms, where athletes — perhaps suffering from cuts or abrasions — share sports equipment. Ashton Bonds played football last year but was not playing this season.
Ashton went to Bedford Memorial Hospital on Oct. 4 after complaining of pain in his side, his mother said. He was sent home after doctors ruled out appendicitis, but was readmitted three days later and transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Last week doctors diagnosed Ashton with a MRSA infection that had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and the muscles around his heart.
Early Thursday morning, Ashton had to be sedated and put on a ventilator. He was about to undergo surgery to drain the infection from his lungs when doctors detected a blood clot near his heart. Bonds said the clot was inoperable.
Copyright 2007
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