MRSA, Staph, Staff, Mersa, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Symptoms & Treatment

Report On Hospital-Acquired Infections Criticises Key Agencies

Link: CQ's Armstrong Discusses Medicaid Legislation, Senate Hearing On FDA Funding, GAO Report On Hospital-Acquired Infections.

Lastly, Armstrong discusses a GAO report that found that government agencies are not doing enough to prevent hospital-acquired infections. GAO recommended that agencies such as CDC and CMS develop clear guidelines for hospitals on how they can fight infections. The report also states that there needs to be better information collecting so policymakers know more on how common the infections are, how they spread and what types of patients are affected. Armstrong says it is unclear whether lawmakers will draft legislation unless they see the need to change how the agencies are doing their jobs (Armstrong, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ," 4/21). The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.

New Bill To Deal With MRSA And Staph Infections in Colorado

Link: New Bill To Deal With MRSA And Staph Infections.

Doctors are seeing 20 times the number of children with aggressive infections at Primary Children’s Medical Center than they did in 1989. This isn't a new problem, but it is getting worse. Representative Jim Matheson announced a bill today to deal with what we know as MRSA and staph infections.

Canadian authorities step up MRSA fight

Link: globeandmail.com: Ottawa targets hospital superbugs.

The federal government is launching a national effort targeting the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in its bid to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections that kill thousands of Canadians each year. An estimated 220,000 Canadians develop hospital-acquired infections each year, of which MRSA is one type, according to Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program figures. About 8,000 people die of them annually. Until now, efforts to reduce the prevalence of superbug infections have been largely left to individual hospitals, which resulted in inconsistent policies and outcomes. The annual death toll of hospital-acquired infections dwarfs that of the 2003 SARS outbreak, which killed 44 people nationwide. By targeting MRSA, Howard Njoo of the Public Health Agency of Canada said it is making patient safety in this country's hospitals a priority.

Government accused over MRSA target

Link: Channel 4 - News - Government accused over MRSA target.

The Government has been accused of dirty tricks after new details emerged of how it plans to hit a controversial MRSA target. The Liberal Democrats and Tories hit out after it emerged the Government was taking into account reductions in the MRSA rate including the first quarter of 2008/2009. In 2004, former health secretary John Reid said the Government would halve rates of MRSA by the end of March 2008. The Government confirmed it would use figures from April to June 2008 to calculate the figure.

MRSA fines could harm the very sick

Link: Cameron takes on Labour at their own game - icWales.

The doctors’ body suggested the MRSA fines might lead to hospitals choosing to treat only those patients less likely to develop post-op complications. It said, “We have to get away from something that says hospitals have to pay for the privilege of looking after people who are ‘expensive’.” Devolution has made the NHS a much more tangled political web, too. If Mr Cameron thinks there is too much top-down planning and too little market reform in the English NHS, he presumably has little time for the Welsh model, with its rejection of foundation hospitals and its wariness over independent-sector treatment centres.

Health Secretary Unveils New Infection Control Strategy, UK

Link: Health Secretary Unveils New Infection Control Strategy, UK.

Every hospital trust in England will be able to recruit two infection control nurses, two isolation nurses and an antimicrobial pharmacist with millions of pounds of extra investment for infection control in the NHS, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced recently. New stringent requirements outlined today in the Government's strategy to tackle healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) also mean that NHS Foundation Trust applications will not be supported by the Secretary of State unless trusts are consistently hitting local targets on both MRSA and C. difficile. 'Clean, safe care' draws together current HCAI initiatives and details new areas where the NHS should invest the extra funding of �270 million per year by 2010/11 to support infection control and cleanliness in the NHS.

Legislation calls for testing patients to reduce spread of MRSA

Link: Legislation calls for testing patients to reduce spread of MRSA infections -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome." There is much debate about who authored this quote, but little doubt it holds true. Perhaps it is time to stop doing the same things over and over, and begin doing what we know works to contain the spread of hospital-based methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. That is why I sponsor legislation that would require surveillance to test admitted patients at hospitals and nursing homes for MRSA.

More legislation being promoted to fight MRSA in USA

Link: Covering the Hudson to the Catskills!.

In light of recent outbreaks of methicillin-resistant staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in communities in Orange and Sullivan counties, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (D-Forestburgh) is promoting a bill she introduced earlier this year to fight the growing number of MRSA cases in hospitals, where many of the infections originate. “As a nurse, I saw the effects of MRSA infections in hospital patients, and I know that the proliferation of MRSA outside of hospitals — in our communities — could have far-reaching effects,” Gunther said. “That is why it is important that we establish a uniform protocol to help hospitals prevent MRSA infections.”

Why Aren’t The Feds Fighting MRSA Harder?

Link: Why Aren’t The Feds Fighting MRSA Harder?, Hospitals Are Adopting Superbug Screening, But The CDC Hasn’t Ordered Tests - CBS News.

The test for MRSA, a $20 swab of the nose, is done routinely at a handful of U.S. hospitals, all of which call the testing effective. At Loyola University in Chicago, testing has reduced MRSA infections by 50 percent. “We think it’s worthwhile because it’s putting our patients first,” said Loyola University’s Dr. Paul O’Keefe. Three states and the Veterans Administration have also ordered MRSA screenings for high risk patients - but the federal government, specifically the Centers for Disease Control, has not. The CDC, which declined an on camera interview, but told CBS News by phone that drug-resistant infections in hospitals have to be fought with multiple strategies.     CDC Head: Staph Is "The Cockroach Of Bacteria" Such strategies include better hospital hand hygiene enhanced cleaning, along with testing. Testing alone, the CDC believes is "not a magic bullet,” "And that is just the wrong mindset," said Lisa McGiffert of the Consumers Union.

Much more at the link above

IDSA urges Congress to support Hatch Infection Bill

Link: IDSA urges Congress to support Hatch amendments.

The Infectious Diseases Society of American is calling on members of Congress to support the Antibiotic Safety and Innovation amendment introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to the Food Drug Administration (FDA) Revitalization Act. Without innovative public policy, the practice of medicine may return to the pre-antibiotic era when acquiring a bacterial infection was often a death sentence. The FDA Revitalization Act offers an important opportunity to avert the public health crisis that antimicrobial resistance is creating in hospitals and communities across the nation and at the same time to strengthen patient safety. The Hatch amendment will:     * expand incentives to spur the development of new, effective antibiotics     * spur research on new indications or uses for approved antibiotics     * require FDA to establish and reassess antimicrobial breakpoints so that physicians have the information necessary to use antibiotics wisely and in a way that will not put patients� safety or public health at greater risk