The U.S. has made some progress in fighting Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals, according to findings from a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Using data on rates of invasive healthcare-associated MRSA infections among residents in nine U.S. metro areas, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2005, the incidence rate for hospital-onset invasive MRSA infections was 1.02 per 10,000 people in 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, hospital-acquired MRSA infections dropped 9.4 percent each year.
In 2005, the incidence of healthcare-associated, community-onset infections was 2.20 per 10,000 people and decreased 5.7 percent per year.
The researchers attribute the greater drop in hospital-onset infections vs. community-onset infections to prevention practices in acute-care settings that made a difference. They also note that colonized patients discharged from acute-care settings are at high risk of subsequent MRSA infections as outpatients.
"Interventions that successfully decrease MRSA transmission in hospitals might therefore contribute to the observed decrease in rates of healthcare-associated community-onset infections," they write.
To learn more:
- read the Journal of the American Medical Association article
- check out the Los Angeles Times piece
- read the CNN.com blog post
- here's the Medical News Today article
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