Are superbugs on the rise? Yes
and at an alarming rate, say experts who presented their
findings at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Infectious
Diseases Society of America, held earlier this month in
Boston. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) is causing record numbers of skin infections in
children, infecting people outside the hospital setting
and even causing lethal pneumonia. MRSA rates are also
increasing annually in Canada, especially in Ontario,
Quebec and the western provinces.
"The rate of MRSA infections has
risen to epidemic proportions in some places, and the
curve isn't flattening out yet," said Dr Kevin Purcell,
principal investigator of a study on MRSA-caused skin
infections at Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus
Christi, Texas. "Staphylococcus aureus is a bad
bug to begin with and this resistant form is more potent,
making it easier for people to become infected."
Dr Purcell's study found that the
number of infections caused by MRSA rose from nine cases
in 1999 to 459 in 2003. Most of the infections caused
mild symptoms, predominantly abscesses. There were,
however, several cases of pneumonia, endocarditis and
toxic shock syndrome. Moreover, nearly half of the 928
children had to be admitted to the hospital for treatment
with intravenous antibiotics.
Around 90% of kids struck by the
bug had no risk factors for infection. "We're seeing
more and more families whose members are passing the
MRSA back and forth and in those cases everyone needs
treatment to eradicate the bug from their bodies." Other
reports from New York, Missouri and Maryland documented
cases of abscesses from MRSA contracted outside the
hospital environment.
In other news, S aureus,
long associated with pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients,
is only now being linked to pneumonia in healthy people.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) presented a study
documenting how 17 people in nine states contracted
pneumonia caused by MRSA outside the hospital during
last year's flu season. Five of the 17 died, and 12
needed admission to intensive care, with average hospital
stays of three weeks. Only one of the five people who
died had any risk factor, in this case diabetes.
CDC epidemiologist Dr Jeffrey Hageman
said that the bacterial infection generally superimposed
itself on a viral one. "Most of these cases first had
influenza virus infection and progressed to MRSA pneumonia.
With the flu season just around the corner, physicians
need to be aware that in some cases the bug causing
the pneumonia may be resistant to the antibiotics typically
used, and may need to be treated with alternative drugs."
"These reports highlight our concern
over the crisis of antibiotic resistance, a problem
that's magnified because there simply aren't enough
new drugs in the pharmaceutical pipeline to keep pace
with the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, the so-called
'superbugs,'" said Dr Joseph Dalovisio, president of
the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "This crisis
has the potential to touch us all because drug-resistant
infections can strike anyone � young or old, healthy
or chronically ill."
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