A study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found that in 2004, two Johns Hopkins healthcare workers contracted community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA-CA), a potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant staph infection. No patients were infected, but both workers had to be treated for the bug. Their infection underscores the danger that both patients and healthcare workers face from this rapidly growing health threat. "Health experts fear that the rising trend of MRSA infections in hospitals could render useless many of the most widely available and effective drugs," notes Infection Control Today. Hospitals need to exert strong control over their infection control practices in order to prevent the spread of MRSA-CA. This includes using cleaning supplies that contain ethyl alcohol and quaternary ammonium, which reduces the chance that MRSA-CA can spread.
For more on the danger MRSA-CA poses to healthcare workers:
- read this Infection Control Today article
- check out this report from Forbes
- see the abstract published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology