Date updated: October 25, 2007
Content provided by Revolution Health Group
You've more than likely heard the recent news that potentially deadly, drug-resistant staph infections are on the rise, according to a study published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association). The study reports that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are more common — both in and out of hospitals — than experts once thought.

More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from this drug-resistant staph "superbug," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, which reported the findings in the Oct. 17 issue of JAMA. However, the study found that the majority of MRSA outbreaks are in health care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes.

About 85% of all invasive MRSA infections were associated with health care settings — two–thirds of which surfaced in the community among people who were hospitalized, underwent a medical procedure or resided in a long–term care facility within the previous year, according to the study.

In contrast, the other 15% of reported infections were considered to be community-associated — which means that the infection occurred in people without documented health care risk factors.

Spread of MRSA infections preventable
Schools nationwide are reporting outbreaks of Staphylococcus aureus skin infections. Some of them are MRSA infections, which has recently caused two student deaths. But the spread of these infections is preventable "through rigorous hygiene and cleanliness," says Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., chairman of the New York City-based Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID).

Since most of these infections are being spread in school gyms and locker rooms as athletes with minor cuts and abrasions share equipment, there are steps you, your family and the schools can take to reduce the risk.

RID offers the following 10 steps to protect students from MSRA infections:

1. Encourage students to clean their hands frequently.

2. Parents, tuck a small container of hand sanitizer in your child's book bag — if your child is mature enough to use it properly.

3. Educators, install dispensers of hand sanitizer inside each classroom. Students should not have to get a hall pass and leave the classroom to clean their hands.

4. Warn students not to share gym clothes, towels and other personal items. MRSA bacteria can live on fabrics and hard surfaces for up to 90 days.

5. Warn students against sharing bars of soap. Use pump dispensers only.

6. Educators, ensure that all shared sports equipment (wrestling mats, baseball gloves, gymnastics equipment, etc.) and locker room facilities such as benches are cleaned with detergents — which must remain on the surfaces for at least three minutes. Quick spraying and wiping is not effective.

7. Educators, make sure that when a student gets a cut or abrasion on the playground or in class, it is cleaned immediately by someone whose hands are also clean! Classrooms should have a first-aid kit or ready access to a school nurse.

8. School authorities should consider antimicrobial coatings for sports equipment and other high-touch surfaces as well as washable keyboards for computers.

9. School authorities should periodically have surfaces in the gym and classrooms tested in order to know the extent of MRSA contamination.

10. Athletes, gym teachers and coaches should be given extra awareness tools to reduce their heightened risk of MSRA exposure.

GOOD INFORMATION AND NEEDS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY YOUNG AND OLD!!! I HAVE A FRIEND THAT HAD IT AND FORTUNATELY THEY RECOVERED QUIET WELL!!!!!

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been around for a long time and most of us carry it in our nasopharyngeal area. Any organism can become multiply drug resistant and the main culprit is not taking ALL of a prescription. By taking it only until you feel better gives the (very smart) organisms ammunition to mutate and become resistant. Also, we need to educate physicians that giving an antibiotic to patients with viral infections only adds to the problem.

I didn't know what it was and hear the term so much that I got curious.