Baltimore Has Highest Rate of Staph Superbug Infections in the Nation
Posted on November 2, 2007
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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 HIV/AIDS fatalities in 2005. The study found that the rate of MRSA infection was highest in Baltimore, Maryland.
The rate of MRSA infection in Baltimore was recorded as nearly 117 per 100,000 in 2005. That rate is well over three times higher than the average infection rate of 31.8 per 100,000 recorded in the study. The other areas studied were:
- The State of Connecticut
- The Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area
- Davidson County, Tennessee
- The Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area
- Monroe County, New York
- The Portland, Oregon metropolitan area
- Ramsey County, Minnesota
- The San Francisco, California metropolitan area
It is unclear why the rate of MRSA infections is so high in Baltimore, according to the principal investigator for the Maryland Active Bacterial Core Surveillance, the group that collected the Baltimore data. Laura Herrera of the Baltimore City Health Department mentioned that chronic diseases have been found to be more common in urban areas.
The study also found that more Baltimore residents acquired the infection in the community (almost 63 cases per 100,000) than in hospitals (almost 20 cases per 100,000.)
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