MRSA infection rate higher than earlier thought

Lawmakers in a handful of states this year have considered bills to mandate screening hospitalized patients.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. July 9, 2007.

As data on the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the community and in hospitals continue to pile up, more hospitals are taking an aggressive approach to preventing the superbug's spread.

A May 29 Archives of Internal Medicine study found that community-acquired MRSA increased sevenfold among low-income Chicagoans in the last five years, for example. And an Assn. for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology study released last month reported that 34 of every 1,000 hospital inpatients are infected with MRSA.

That rate is 8.6 times higher than a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that examined 1999-2000 hospital discharge data and tallied more than 125,000 MRSA infections annually. The APIC figure is the result of an October 2006 snapshot survey of infection-control professionals at 21% of U.S. hospitals.

"This is a real wake-up call, particularly for administrative and clinical leaders," said APIC CEO Kathy L. Warye. "We don't live in a world of unlimited resources, but more needs to be done. This study shows that infection control is really important, and MRSA prevention is at the top of the list."

A number of hospitals are already taking action. The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs announced in May that it would expand systemwide an MRSA-reduction initiative successfully piloted at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Like most similar efforts, the VA program tests high-risk patients to identify and isolate those with MRSA. The initiative also emphasizes hand hygiene and infection control.