Cholesterol Lowering Drug May Render Staph Bacteria Harmless
In their efforts to develop new treatments for drug-resistant staph infections, scientists have obtained positive results using a cholesterol lowering drug that never made it to market. Researchers believe that cholesterol reducing compounds known as squalene synthase inhibitors may work on staph infections, including methicillin resistant staph, by rendering the bacteria vulnerable to the [...]
Maryland Expected to Begin Tracking Hospital-Acquired MRSA Infections
The Maryland Health Care Commission, an independent state regulatory agency, is expected to vote today for the state to consider methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a reportable disease. There is currently no requirement for Maryland state and local health departments to track and record MRSA, the virulent superbug that can develop into a lethal [...]
Infection Control Experts Say Hospitals Not Doing Enough to Prevent MRSA
Half of American health care facilities are not doing enough to stop the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to a poll of infection control professionals. The online survey conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) revealed that while 59 percent of respondents work at facilities that are [...]
MRSA Related Hospitalizations Surge More Than 100%
Hospitalizations caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are on the rise in the United States, ballooning 62% between 1999 and 2005. During the same period, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, accounted for a 119% jump in hospitalizations, reports a new study in the December 2007 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases published by the Centers for [...]
West Virginia Man Sues after Contracting MRSA During Hospitalization
The superbug known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is at the center of a medical malpractice suit filed against Charleston Area Medical Center in southern West Virginia on November 14, 2007. The lawsuit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court alleges that the facility’s negligence and carelessness caused Gerald George of Dunbar, West Virginia to [...]
Staph Superbugs in the Spotlight on Capitol Hill
A hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday examined the public health challenges of dealing with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard expert testimony from witnesses who addressed MRSA prevention, risk reduction, and the potential role of the government in combating the lethal superbug. In addition [...]
Baltimore Has Highest Rate of Staph Superbug Infections in the Nation
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, gained national attention last month when four American children died from complications related to the virulent superbug. In a study published in the October 17, 2007 Journal of the American Medical Association, The Centers for Disease Control reported that United States deaths attributed to the MRSA bacterium exceeded [...]