MRSA

• Staphylococcus aureus - often referred to simply as "staph," is a type of bacterium commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. “Staph” bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infections, most of which are minor and can be easily treated. MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – is a version of “staph” that is resistant to several antibiotics, including methicillin, cloxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin.
• MRSA can cause serious infections (such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia), all of which can be life threatening.
• MRSA infections occur most frequently in persons who have weakened immune systems, who are resident in hospitals and health care facilities such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. MRSA is transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact or contact with shared items or surfaces that have come into contact with someone else's infection (e.g., towels, used bandages).
• The main mode of transmission to other persons is by human hands, especially those of health care workers. Hands may become contaminated with MRSA by contact with infected or colonized patients. If appropriate hand hygiene (such as washing with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer) is not performed, MRSA can be spread when the healthcare worker touches other patients.
• While 25% to 30% of the population is colonized with the ordinary kind of staph bacteria (colonization means that bacteria are present, but not causing an infection), only about 1% is colonized with MRSA.
• Patients who already have an MRSA infection or who carry the bacteria on their bodies but do not have symptoms are the most common sources of transmission between people.

Why MRSA is a problem

• Most obviously, MRSA kills. Bacteremia (bloodstream infection) due to ordinary S. aureus has been reported to be associated with mortality rates of 15-60%. Mortality associated with MRSA is higher.
• MRSA implies limited treatment options. When the drug of choice for treating an infection doesn’t work, an infected patient requires treatment with a second- or third-choice antibiotic that may be less effective, more toxic and more expensive.
• MRSA infections mean greater suffering and more expensive treatment. Both aspects increase the burden and expense to the healthcare system.
• People infected with antibiotic-resistant organisms like MRSA are more likely to have longer and more expensive hospital stays. The incremental cost associated with treating a single patient with MRSA is approximately $14,000 in Canada.
• There is strong evidence that current prevention measures are not controlling the spread of MRSA and that rates of infection are increasing nationally in Canada and many other jurisdictions – in other words, we currently are losing the battle.
• Since 1995 to 2006 the total incidence of MRSA has increased 17-fold in hospitals participating in the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP). CNISP researchers extrapolated that 11,700 patients acquired new MRSA infections in Canadian hospitals in 2006.
• In 2007, it was estimated that MRSA was costing Canada’s health care system $200-250 million per year.