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StaphAseptic™ News
Epidemiologists Question Screening for MRSA Bacteria
January 19, 2010
MPBN
By Anne Mostue
A new law went into effect last week requiring that all Maine hospitals screen high-risk patients for a drug-resistant bacteria called MRSA. It's a type of staph infection that was associated with an estimated 19,000 deaths in the United States in 2005. But Maine epidemiologists are questioning the effectiveness of screening.
Last week, the Maine Nurses Association hailed the enactment of the law they had supported to require hospitals to screen patients for MRSA. MRSA is short for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It's a bacteria that is highly-resistant to some antibiotics.
The Nurses Association reported that 68 out of every 1,000 hospital patients in Maine contract MRSA. They also said Maine has the fourth highest MRSA rate in the country. But those data are based on a national study done in 2006. It was completed in a single day and only a quarter of U.S. hospitals participated.
Because participation varied widely from state to state, Maine epidemiologists say the MRSA rates between states can't be compared.
"People don't come labeled saying they have MRSA," says Maine Public Health Director Dora Mills. "There are a number of people who are carriers. If they're carriers and in the healthcare setting, that can be a real problem. There's so much of it out there, in the community setting particularly, and we aren't necessarily going to do anything about it just because we get a report on it."
But the state is doing something: requiring hospitals to screen patients for MRSA. That means when a patient comes to a hospital, they're asked a few questions to see if they're likely to be carriers. If they are, a nasal culture is administered. Those who are more likely to carry MRSA are people who have been in a hospital or nursing home within the past six months, dialysis patients and people who've been in prison. The law does not dictate further action, but usually hospitals isolate or treat a person with MRSA.
The state Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately one percent of the American population carries MRSA in their nose or on their skin and may not know it. It's unclear how often MRSA causes serious illness by entering the bloodstream.
This is a portion of the original article. To keep reading, visit mpbn.net. There is also an audio portion you can listen to.
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