Increase in Drug Resistant Staph Infections
Increase in Drug Resistant Staph Infections
Oct 16, 2007 06:26 PM EDT
(Buffalo, NY, October 16, 2007) - - New research shows an infection often associated with hospitals is now turning up in other places. Tuesday night Doctor Peter Ostrow reports on the sharp increase in drug resistant staph infections.
In the 1990s, some dangerous new bacteria began to appear that were resistant to antibiotics. The most common , called Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus, or MRSA, is shown as purple dots in this microscopic photo. MRSA was once seen almost exclusively in hospitals, but a report in this week's journal of the American Medical Association documents a surprising increase of MRSA in the general community.
Dr. Howard Faden, Kaleida Health, "What we're seeing is an epidemic of staphyloccocal skin infections."
Dr. Faden is Professor of Pediatrics at UB and Co-director of the Infectious Disease Unit at Childrens' Hospital he sees the most serious cases of these infections.
Dr. Howard Faden, Kaleida Health, "We've seen a tremendous increase in the number of these skin infections that actually form abscesses and need to be surgically drained."
In the past four years, the number of those abscesses has gone from about 15 per year to more than 300, and many patients tend to have them more than once.
Dr. Howard Faden, Kaleida Health, "Approximately one-third of all the kids we're seeing with abscesses that need to be drained recur. Also, it seems to spread in families. Approximately 25% of the families of children who had their abscesses drained report other family members with abscesses."
MRSA accounts for about 70 percent of all staph skin infections, so doctors should suspect it and treat it with one of the antibiotics that works against it. And the infections don't have to become severe enough to require hospital treatment. Here's some good old fashioned advice.
Dr. Howard Faden, Kaleida Health, "If you get an abrasion or an early infection, wash it well with soap and water. Some of these will resolve on their own and not progress to more serious infections."
Of course, washing your hands will cut down the spread of many infections, but Dr. Faden says when you wash off an abrasion or a mildly infected area, you should use an antibacterial soap. That's when those soaps are helpful.
(Q) Should parents use anti-biotic creams for cuts and scrapes?
(A) We don't really have good evidence that those creams will prevent an infection, but if there's an early infection already present, an antibiotic cream may be helpful.
(Q) Where do these bacteria come from?
(A) About 30 percent of people carry staph organisms, on the skin and particularly in the nose. Dr. Faden and his colleagues are conducting experiments to see whether "de-colonizing" people who carry it can prevent infections.
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