Dr. Mike

An emerging strain of community-acquired MRSA underscores the complexity of the public health challenges associated with antibiotic resistance.

Washington -- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus -- MRSA for short, is commonplace in hospitals and nursing homes, where each year it's the diagnosis for a third of all infections acquired within those facilities.
These superbugs are now raising the eyebrows of infectious disease specialists because a new strain has emerged in the general population.

Case studies in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Aug. 20 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report detailed the first four instances in which community-acquired MRSA infections resulted in death.

"We very strongly believe that these [infections] are a byproduct of excessive and otherwise inappropriate use of antibiotics," said Timothy Naimi, MD, MPH, a CDC medical epidemiologist with the Minnesota Deptartment of Health.

Source: AMNews

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