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StaphAseptic™ News
Deadlier Strain of MRSA Emerges
November 3, 2009
WebMD
By Charlene Laino
A newly discovered strain of drug-resistant staph bacteria is five times more deadly than other strains, a new study suggests.
Adding insult to injury, the new superbug appears to have some resistance to the antibiotic commonly used to treat it, researchers report.
Half of patients infected with the new strain of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) died within 30 days, says Carol Moore, PharmD, a research investigator in infectious diseases at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
That compares to only about 10% of patients infected with other MRSA strains, she tells WebMD.
Moore and colleagues studied 16 people infected with the new strain, called USA600, and 64 people infected with other MRSA strains at their institution.
MRSA strains are typically susceptible to the antibiotic vancomycin, Moore says. But the USA600 strain was at least party immune to vancomycin, she says.
Though the new superbug appears to have unique characteristics that make it deadly, other factors, such as the patients' older age, may have played a role, Moore says. The average age of patients infected with the USA600 strain in the study was 64 vs. 51 for patients with other MRSA strains.
This is only a portion of the original article, to read the entire article visit WebMD.com
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