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News items on 'Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus'
(The Scotsman 19/11/2009)
SCOTTISH scientists have developed a chemical to tackle infections such as MRSA by mimicking the body's ability to fight bacteria. The new compound could be added to detergents or used as a coating for hospital equipment in efforts to fight superbugs and cut infections. The researchers hope the chemical could be ready to use in products within two years. The compound is able to trap and release the gas nitric oxide, also produced by our own immune systems to kill bugs.
Early MRSA discharges called for
(BBC 20/10/2009)
Hospitals should be discharging MRSA patients early to help ease pressure on intensive care beds as the flu season starts, doctors say. The MRSA Working Group has written to UK hospitals outlining how to ensure enough critical care beds are available this winter. They say as MRSA patients get squeezed into fewer beds by flu patients the number of MRSA cases could rise by 40%. But an MRSA patient group said it was not safe to discharge them like this.
Doubts raised over MRSA screening
(BBC 09/10/2009)
The wisdom of screening all hospital patients for MRSA in England is being questioned by a leading expert. Dr Michael Millar, who is involved in the screening programme at a top London hospital trust, said the tests produced too many false results. He also said the risks and consequences of delayed operations and isolation were not fully explained to patients, the British Medical Journal reported. But the government said screening was an important part of the MRSA fight.
Infections warning for care homes
(BBC 21/09/2009)
Poor communication between hospitals and care homes in England may be putting people at risk of MRSA and other infections, the regulator says. The Care Quality Commission found nearly a fifth of homes were not being told if patients discharged from hospitals are or had been infected. Even when they were told, the data was sometimes incomplete or illegible, the survey of more than 1,000 homes showed. It comes as MRSA and Clostridium difficile rates are falling.
(BBC 21/09/2009)
Last week, it could have been reported that we had had the largest percentage fall in quarterly figures for MRSA since it came to public attention years ago: down about 27% in one quarter (and nearly 40 per cent in a year). MRSA and C.Diff were both ruthlessly targeted by the Government with a good deal of rough justice. It looks as if this has worked. Some would say it was top-down control that caused the rise in hospital infections in the first place, by forcing every bed to be occupied.
Staph Germs Found at West Coast Beaches
(World health - EU Monitor 13/09/2009)
(AP) Dangerous staph bacteria have been found in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches along the coast of Washington, USA, and scientists think the state is not the only one with this problem. The germ is MRSA - a hard-to-treat bug once rarely seen outside of hospitals but that increasingly is spreading in ordinary community settings such as schools, locker rooms and gyms. The germ causes nasty skin infections as well as pneumonia and other life-threatening problems.
Further drop in NHS infections
(BBC 10/09/2009)
The number of MRSA infections in hospitals in England has fallen by 40% compared with the same period last year, figures show. Between April and June this year 509 cases were reported, compared with 839 in the same quarter in 2008, the Health Protection Agency said. The latest figure is a quarter of the peak of nearly 2,000 in 2004. Rates of Clostridium difficile infection are also continuing to fall with a 37% drop from last year. The HPA welcomed the progress but warned against complacency.
MRSA risk from dog and cat bites
(BBC 22/06/2009)
Doctors treating dog and cat bites should be aware of the risks of MRSA infection, US researchers have warned. In Lancet Infectious Diseases they reviewed existing evidence on infection risks from domestic animal bites. They said that, as community-acquired MRSA becomes more prevalent, there is an increased chance of it being passed between humans and animals. UK expert Professor Mark Enright said it was likely to be owners, and not their pets, who carried MRSA.
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Latest healthcare associated infection figures published by Health Protection Agency
(Health Protection Agency 18/06/2009)
The latest figures on MRSA bloodstream infections show that there were 692 cases reported in England during the January to March quarter of 2009. This represents a 29% decrease in cases from the same quarter of last year (January - March 2008) when 970 cases were reported. The latest C. difficile figures show that there were 8,358 cases reported in patients aged two years and over between January and March 2009. This represents a 36% reduction on the same quarter last year (January - March).
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