Effective treatment for MRSA only a coin toss
Since the early 1960s, a bacteria called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has raised public health concerns in hospitals across the U.S.
These bacteria can cause serious infections in patients with already weakened immune systems: It is estimated that 18,000 people die every year from MRSA-acquired infections.
Ten years ago, Hopkins teamed up with a network of community hospitals to assess and combat the spread of MRSA infections. By training the hospital staff to standardize patient databases and better track infections, researchers hoped that patient outcomes would improve. More recently, however, researchers found that in the 10 hospitals examined, the probability that patients would receive appropriate therapy for blood stream infections due to MRSA was "no better than a coin toss."
Most MRSA infections are found in the skin and soft tissues. The infection begins as a fever and the appearance of small red bumps on the skin. If untreated, the infection can spread to vital organs, causing serious complications such as blood poisoning, toxic shock syndrome or pneumonia. Organ failure and death can follow. MRSA is a serious issue in hospital settings, where many people have weakened immune systems and the bacteria can be easily transferred by hospital workers moving from patient to patient. Additionally, MRSA has earned a reputation as a superbug that is resistant to multiple antibiotics.
"We have seen more and more bacteria which have acquired a protein which allows them to thrive in the presence of antibiotics," head researcher Carrie Herzke said. The DNA that codes for the protein that allows this resistance is easily passed from one strain of MRSA bacteria to another, which can lead to dangerous infections that do not respond to an increasingly long list of antibiotics.
"The concern is both that MRSA represents an immediate threat by causing more severe disease than the non-resistant strains and also that these infections will over time develop resistance to all our available antibiotics," Herzke said.
These bacteria can cause serious infections in patients with already weakened immune systems: It is estimated that 18,000 people die every year from MRSA-acquired infections.
Ten years ago, Hopkins teamed up with a network of community hospitals to assess and combat the spread of MRSA infections. By training the hospital staff to standardize patient databases and better track infections, researchers hoped that patient outcomes would improve. More recently, however, researchers found that in the 10 hospitals examined, the probability that patients would receive appropriate therapy for blood stream infections due to MRSA was "no better than a coin toss."
Most MRSA infections are found in the skin and soft tissues. The infection begins as a fever and the appearance of small red bumps on the skin. If untreated, the infection can spread to vital organs, causing serious complications such as blood poisoning, toxic shock syndrome or pneumonia. Organ failure and death can follow. MRSA is a serious issue in hospital settings, where many people have weakened immune systems and the bacteria can be easily transferred by hospital workers moving from patient to patient. Additionally, MRSA has earned a reputation as a superbug that is resistant to multiple antibiotics.
"We have seen more and more bacteria which have acquired a protein which allows them to thrive in the presence of antibiotics," head researcher Carrie Herzke said. The DNA that codes for the protein that allows this resistance is easily passed from one strain of MRSA bacteria to another, which can lead to dangerous infections that do not respond to an increasingly long list of antibiotics.
"The concern is both that MRSA represents an immediate threat by causing more severe disease than the non-resistant strains and also that these infections will over time develop resistance to all our available antibiotics," Herzke said.
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