MRSA Infection

HIV & AIDS Information :: 'Social networks' may explain high prevalence of MRSA colonization seen in patients with HIV

HIV & AIDS Information :: 'Social networks' may explain high prevalence of MRSA colonization seen in patients with HIV.

Infection with HIV per se does not increase the risk of colonisation with community-associated MRSA, according to US research published in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The investigators found that prevalence of nasal colonisation with community-associated MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was significantly higher in HIV-positive patients compared to HIV-negative patients. However, they also found a hierarchy of risk among the HIV-positive patients. Moreover, after controlling for factors such as imprisonment and area of residence, infection with HIV did not have a significant association with MRSA colonisation. “Community exposures may be more important for predicting MRSA colonization than HIV status in certain groups,” comment the authors. Earlier research by the same investigators showed that HIV-positive patients had a six-fold higher risk of community-acquired MRSA skin and soft tissue infections compared to HIV-negative individuals. It is unclear why HIV-positive patients have an increased risk of the infection. Immune suppression and extensive use of antibiotics may be contributory factors.

Pig Vets seeking MRSA Answers

Study Focuses on Safety, MRSA in Swine Veterinarians | Health content from National Hog Farmer.

So-called "livestock associated" MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is a hot topic when it comes to discussions surrounding antimicrobial resistance. Previous studies confirmed that ST398 MRSA can be found in U.S. hogs, farmers, swine veterinarians and pork, although data suggest lower prevalence than in some European countries. Although it has been shown repeatedly that people with livestock contact commonly have positive nasal cultures for ST398, Davies says two major questions remain to be resolved:

MRSA neglect in prison?

Fuselier battling MRSA in prison - NBC12 News, Weather Sports, Traffic, and Programming Guide for Richmond, VA |.

Glen lives in a dormitory style housing unit - and that's a problem, because he's a carrier for a highly contagious flesh eating bacteria, MRSA. He contracted MRSA during his long stint in the hospital, where his immune system was seriously compromised. In his 2 years behind bars, he's had 8 flare-ups, one requiring emergency surgery. He claims the prison is refusing him the help he needs. "It started off as a small bump. 3 days later it had grown to the size of a softball," Glen said. "They were grossly negligent, really bad," said Glen's mother Suzanne Fuselier.

MRSA and Pillows?

Making a good night's sleep a whole lot healthier - The Irish Times - Mon, Feb 27, 2012.

HAVE YOU EVER wondered who slept on your hotel pillow before you, what ailments they had and what they did? According to Dublin-based company Gabriel Scientific, after two years of use, up to one-third of a pillow’s weight can be made up of bacteria, fungal spores, as well as dead dust mites and their unsavoury secretions. This is bad enough in the home, but in hospitals it can be highly dangerous, with bedding and pillows identified as reservoirs and vectors for potentially deadly infections such as MRSA, C. Difficile and Norovirus. Gabriel Scientific has developed a solution to this problem in the form of a pillow made from a membrane that is normally used as a filter in heart stents to keep out bacteria, and sealed by melting the edges together rather than sewing them.

Simple scrubs become active barrier protection against MRSA

United States of America : Simple scrubs become active barrier protection - Textile News United States of America.

The use of Vestex fluid barrier / antimicrobial impregnated scrubs combined with good hand hygiene reduces the burden of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) on a new class of health care worker apparel and may play a role in decreasing the risk of MRSA transmission to patients, according to a new study from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) researchers.

Study Focuses on Safety, MRSA in Swine Veterinarians

Study Focuses on Safety, MRSA in Swine Veterinarians | Health content from National Hog Farmer.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has funded a study of occupational safety in U.S. swine veterinarians, including a long-term study of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA, according to Peter Davies, DVM, Swine Health and Production, University Of Minnesota, who is leading the project.

Doctors, dogs and MRSA

Antimicrobial selective pressure in pet-owning healthcare workers -- Lloyd et al. 170 (8): 211 -- Veterinary Record.

This letter reports the results from a recent online survey of dog ownership and antibiotic use among UK NHS staff carried out by YouGov (http://research.yougov.co.uk) on behalf of the Bella Moss Foundation (www.thebellamossfoundation.com) in July 2011. A total of 686 interviews were conducted with staff across all NHS professions from a panel commissioned to undertake research with YouGov. The survey revealed that 24 per cent of all NHS staff and 28 per cent of nurses and clinical support staff own a dog. Just under half of dog owners either kissed (47 per cent) or were licked by (45 per cent) their dogs at least once a week. In addition, 15 per cent of owners had given their dog at least one course of antibiotics in the previous year. In 2010 the NHS had 1.4 million employees. Extrapolating these results indicates that 336,000 NHS workers own a dog and that over 50,000 gave antibiotics to their dogs at least once in the previous year. It is well recognised in both humans and animals that antimicrobial use is a risk factor for carriage or infection with multidrug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA, Clostridium difficile or Escherichia coli (Clooten and others 2008, Soares-Magalhães and others 2010). In addition, interaction of owners and veterinary staff with healthcare facilities increases their risk of acquiring such bacteria, and this is particularly relevant for veterinary staff when zoonotic pathogens such as MRSA are involved. These survey data highlight the opportunity for transmission of multidrug-resistant bacteria between healthcare workers and their pets. Such risks can be reduced by responsible use of antimicrobials and implementation of effective hygiene strategies. However, risk reduction against zoonotic pathogens will be most effective if selective pressure is reduced jointly in both host populations through collaborative strategies between the medical and veterinary professions.

Affinium doses first patient in AFN-1252 staph drug trial

Affinium doses first patient in AFN-1252 drug trial - Pharmaceutical Business Review.

Affinium Pharmaceuticals has dosed first patient in a multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial investigating oral AFN-1252 in acute bacterial skin & skin structure infections (ABSSSI). AFN-1252, the clinical candidate from the company's FASII program, is designed to selectively target the staphylococcal FabI enzyme. The Phase 2 trial is designed to confirm efficacy and tolerability of 200 mg of oral AFN-1252 dosed twice daily for 5-14 days in patients with staphylococcal skin infections.

'Flesh-eating' MRSA bacteria strain spread by sneezes and coughs?

'Flesh-eating' bacteria strain spread by sneezes and coughs.

The deadly bacteria can be easily passed between people in public places through sneezes and coughs and through contact with the skin of an infected person. Metro reports Professor Chris Thomas, professor of molecular genetics at the University of Birmingham, said: "If you’re on a crowded tube or bus and you sneeze you can spread the bacteria. But your sneeze can also land on a metal surface and when someone else gets up from their seat and steadies themselves on the hand rail they can catch it. However, MRSA is also prevalent in the nose and the hair so might be spread by scratching the head and then shaking hands." The MRSA strain is called USA300 because it was first reported in the United States.

MRSA Drug Resistance in Pork: More Going On Than Appears

Drug Resistance in Pork: More Going On Than Appears | Wired Science | Wired.com.

The second issue to raise is that when the test results were linked back to the samples’ source, 6 of the 7 MRSA-positive RAW isolates turned out to be from the same supermarket chain, and four of them from the same store — including 4 of the 5 human-adapted ones. At that store, the meat arrived as large cuts and was broken down and packaged at the counter by store personnel, which raises the possibility of human contamination — maybe even by a single human — at point of sale. But the biggest issue, to me, is what you see in the “Resistance profile column.” Cheat sheet: O stands for oxacillin, the lab equivalent of methicillin; CL is clindamycin, E is erythromycin, and T is tetracycline. It’s the T results that I think are worth looking at. Here’s the issue. Historically, human-adapted MRSA has not been resistant to tetracycline, because tetracycline wasn’t prescribed for it; even now, tetracycline is not a first-choice drug. So, when MRSA ST398 arose in pigs in the Netherlands in 2004, and was resistant to tetracycline, that was a big red flag, because it was a change in the pattern — and because tetracycline is used in huge amounts in pigs, it was a pointer back to the involvement of farm drugs in the strain’s emergence. But in this table, there is a ton of T (tetracycline) resistance, in half of the alternative isolates and in almost all of the conventional ones, including the human types. So what that says to me is not: There’s MRSA everywhere, and therefore no point in concentrating on farm-origin drug-resistance. To me, it suggests the opposite: A marker for farm-origin drug-resistance is present in the majority of isolates found in this study, even when found on animals raised without antibiotics, and even when presumed to be coming from humans.

MRSA Found in Antibiotic-free Meat | The Scientist

MRSA Found in Antibiotic-free Meat | The Scientist.

The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including the killer Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has been partially blamed on the use of antibiotics in animal feed. Intended to keep livestock healthy, the continuous antibiotic exposure allows bacteria to adapt and evolve into resistant strains. This effect, however, is not restricted to livestock fed high-antibiotic diets. New research published in PLoS ONE found that nearly 65 percent of grocery store pork labeled “antibiotic-free” harbored Staph, and some 6 percent carried MRSA itself. The label “antibiotic-free” is unregulated. How the bacteria are getting into the meat and whether they’re then extending their reach to the table is not yet known. Do the animals catch the bacteria at the farm? The processing plant? “The definitive study would take every bacterium and follow that along until it gets in humans—from food supply to causing a certain disease,” epidemiologist Tara Smith from the University of Iowa College of Public Health told ScienceNOW.

High Vancomycin MICs in MRSA Patients Signal Endocarditis

High Vancomycin MICs in MRSA Patients Signal Endocarditis.

When the vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is 2 µcg/mL or more in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia and severe sepsis, it could mean that they are at risk for endocarditis, according to a study presented here at the Society of Critical Care Medicine 41st Critical Care Congress.

Decolonizing Carriers Can Prevent Recurrrent CA-MRSA Infections

Decolonizing Carriers Can Prevent Recurrrent CA-MRSA Infections, Researchers Say.

Yaseen Rafee, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, and colleagues, sought to measure methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization prevalence in household contacts of children with current community associated (CA)-MRSA infections (study group) in comparison with a group of household contacts of children without suspected Staphylococcus aureus infection (a control group). Cultures of the anterior nares were taken, and relatedness of isolated strains was tested using pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The researchers found that prevalence of MRSA colonization in the study group was significantly higher than in the control group (18/77 (23 percent) vs 3/77 (3.9 percent); p [less than or equal to] 0.001). The prevalence of SA colonization was 28/77 (36 percent) in the study group and 16/77 (21 percent) in the control group (p = 0.032). The prevalence of SA nasal colonization among patients was 6/24 (25 percent); one with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and five with MRSA. In the study (patient) group, 14/24 (58 percent) families had at least one household member who was colonized with MRSA compared to 2/29 (6.9 percent) in the control group (p = 0.001). Of 69 total isolates tested by PFGE, 40 (58 percent) were related to USA300. Panton-Valetine leukocidin (PVL) genes were detected in 30/52 (58 percent) tested isolates. Among the families with [greater than or equal to] one contact colonized with MRSA, similar PFGE profiles were found between the index patient and a contact in 10/14 families. The researchers conclude that prevalence of asymptomatic nasal carriage of MRSA is higher among household contacts of patients with CA-MRSA disease than control group. Decolonizing such carriers may help prevent recurrent CA-MRSA infections. Their research was published in BMC Infectious Diseases.

Protocol Keeps MRSA Down in Airway Surgery

Medical News:Protocol Keeps MRSA Down in Airway Surgery - in Surgery, Otolaryngology from MedPage Today.

About one-third of children undergoing open airway surgery are colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) before the operation, but a screening and treatment protocol resulted in postop infection rates similar to those in the absence of MRSA, researchers found. After implementation of the protocol, postoperative infection rates were 16% in those colonized with MRSA and 17% in those free of MRSA (P=0.79), according to Alessandro de Alarcon, MD, MPH, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues.

Pathogen and host factors in patients with MRSA pneumonia

Analysis of pathogen and host factors related to clinical outcomes in patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

In isolates from 251 patients, the most common molecular characteristics were USA100 (55.0%) and USA300 (23.9%), SCCmec types II (64.1%) and IV (33.1%), and agr I (36.7%) and II (61.8%). Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was present in 21.9% and vancomycin heteroresistance in 15.9%. Mortality occurred in 37.1% of patients; factors in univariate analysis were age, APACHE II score, AIDS, cardiac disease, vascular disease, diabetes, SCCmec type II, PVL negativity, and higher vancomycin MIC (all P <0.05). In multivariate analysis, independent predictors were APACHE II score (OR, 1.090; 95% CI, 1.041–1.141; P<0.001) and age (OR, 1.024; 95% CI, 1.003–1.046; P=0.02). Clinical failure occurred in 36.8% of 201 evaluable patients; the only independent predictor was APACHE II score (OR, 1.082; 95% CI, 1.031–1.136; P=0.002). In summary, APACHE II score (mortality, clinical failure) and age (mortality) were the only independent predictors, which is consistent with severity of illness in ICU patients with MRSA pneumonia. Interestingly, our univariate findings suggest that both pathogen and host factors influence outcomes. As the epidemiology of MRSA pneumonia continues to evolve, both pathogen- and host-related factors should be considered when describing epidemiological trends and outcomes of therapeutic interventions.

Scientists employ metagenomics to identify new possible antibiotics against MRSA

Scientists employ metagenomics to identify new possible antibiotics against MRSA.

The researchers removed DNA from soil bacteria that wouldn't grow in the lab. Then, they put this DNA into different bacteria that do grow well in culture dishes, and these bacteria acted like incubators for the new DNA. The approach enabled Brady's team to study the substances made by the soil bacteria's DNA in the lab. With this "metagenomics" method, they identified two new possible antibiotics called fasamycin A and fasamycin B that killed MRSA and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, which also is becoming more resistant to known antibiotics. They also determined how the new antibiotics work. "Metagenomics has the potential to access large numbers of previously inaccessible natural antibiotics," say the researchers.

3rd ASM Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and Foodborne Pathogens

3rd ASM Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and Foodborne Pathogens.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major public health concern despite significant progress in understanding the epidemiology of resistance, sources for selection, and the genetic mechanisms involved in both human and animal antimicrobial resistance. The 3rd ASM Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and Foodborne Pathogens offers scientists from both backgrounds a unique, integrated platform to discuss these issues. Accordingly, the conference includes sessions on common AMR issues in animals, humans, food and the environment including: - AMR and methodologies (susceptibility testing, experimental approaches) - Molecular epidemiology of AMR in animals, humans, food and the environment and comparative prevalence data - Ecology of AMR in agriculture and food sector - Evolutionary biology and AMR (metagenomics, molecular typing) - Usage of antimicrobials and selection of AMR in humans and animals

Cone uses technology to end hospital-acquired infections - xenon

Cone uses technology to end hospital-acquired infections - Greensboro - The Business Journal.

Cone Health is tapping into a new technology to reduce rates of hospital-acquired infections, a costly and dangerous problem that hospitals nationwide are under pressure to address. The Greensboro-based health system is one of about two dozen nationwide using the new Xenex pulsed-Xenon disinfection system to help prevent the spread of some of the most common hospital infections, such as MRSA, a staph infection that resists typical antibiotic treatment, or C. Difficile, a serious intestinal infection.

Drug-Resistant Staph Linked to Animal Antibiotics & Factory Farming

Drug-Resistant Staph Linked to Animal Antibiotics.

Because both tetracycline and penicillins are commonly administered to food animals, the study finds that it is likely that the use of these drugs in livestock gave this Staph bacteria the exposure it needed to develop resistance to these drugs. In 2010, Tetracycline - used to promote growth and prevent the spread of disease - comprised over 42 percent of all antibiotics administered to food-producing animals in the United States. That year 12,328,520 pounds of the drug were given to animals, while just over 100,000 pounds of the drug are sold for human use. And while over 1.9 million pounds of penicillin were sold for animal use in 2010, approximately 1.5 million pounds are distributed for human use. Both of these drugs are crucial for treating human Staph infections, says Dr. Lance Price, lead author of the study and Director of TGen's Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health. "Methacyline's a really good antibiotic for treating these kinds of infections," he told Food Safety News in an interview. "But a substantial portion of the population is allergic to penicillin and they need alternative drugs like tetracycline. But 69% of the staph we see is resistant to tetracycline." Price says that animal feeding operation provide the perfect setting for the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA is easily transmitted in settings where factors it calls the "5 Cs" are present: crowding, frequent skin-to-skin contact, compromised skin (cuts or abrasions), contamination or lack of cleanliness. "A CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) is the place where these 5 Cs are most prevalent," says Price. "And the single worst thing you could do is add antibiotics to that environment. It's the cocktail for creating superbugs."

Human Staph + Animal Antibiotics = MRSA ST398

Evolution of Staph Superbug Traced Between Humans and Livestock.

After transferring to livestock, MRSA CC398 became resistant to two important antibiotics, tetracycline and methicillin, which are used for treating staph infections. The resistance likely is a result of the routine antibiotic use that characterizes modern food-animal production. The animals commonly are given antibiotics to prevent infection and promote growth. Keim, who also serves as director of TGen’s Pathogenic Genomics Division, said the study describes evolution in action. "The most powerful force in evolution is selection. And in this case, humans have supplied a strong force through the excessive use of antibiotic drugs in farm animal production. It is that inappropriate use of antibiotics that is now coming back to haunt us.”