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Facts Cure "Superbug" Fear
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Facts Cure ?Superbug? Fears
November 8, 2007
Keith Brannon
kbrannon@tulane.edu
Superbug
Fears about a drug-resistant staph ?superbug? may be more contagious than the illness-causing bacteria itself, according to Tulane infectious disease expert Susan McLellan.
Within the past months, schools across the country have shut down gyms, disinfected locker rooms and even canceled classes over concerns about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or what is referred to as MRSA, a bacteria that does not respond to many common antibiotics. Concerns about a superbug were sparked by two unrelated incidents: the death of a 17-year-old high school football player in Virginia from an MRSA infection and a published report of 2005 data showing more people died from MRSA infections than AIDS that year.
The two events created a media storm that caused confused about the true risk factors for MRSA, says McLellan, an associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases in the School of Medicine.
?The biggest confusion in the media reports is confusion between hospital-acquired and community-acquired MRSA,? McLellan says. ?The point is still not getting across that hospital-acquired and community-acquired MRSA are not precisely the same, either epidemiologically or in terms of likelihood of death.?
Bacterial strains found in hospitals are the most resistant to antibiotics. Hospital-acquired MRSA is statistically related to more deaths because often the bacteria are passed to patients who are already weakened by other ailments or injuries.
MRSA is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact. It lives on people, typically in the nose, groin or underarms, McLellan says. Most people who carry the bacteria have no apparent illness or infection but may be able to transmit the bacteria to others by direct contact, such as shaking hands, or less commonly by leaving bacteria in sweat or nasal secretions on a surface that another person may touch.
The strain that is getting the most attention these days is known as community-acquired MRSA. This strain is cropping up outside of hospitals, and is passed around where people live in close quarters, such as jails, or come into close contact with objects that lots of people use, such as gym or locker-room equipment.
?Community-acquired MRSA is a strain that is not nearly as resistant to other non-penicillin antimicrobials as are hospital-acquired strains of MRSA,? McLellan says.
Community-acquired MRSA is unusual in that it can cause skin infections in otherwise healthy individuals, usually showing up as boils. Most of these infections, although distressing, are not life-threatening. McLellan says that frequent cleaning of surfaces that come in contact with many people is appropriate, but the type of aggressive decontamination requiring closure of a school is not.
?The best way to prevent infection with community-acquired MRSA is to observe good hygiene, whether at school, the gym, the grocery store or at home. Wash your hands frequently; disinfect and properly bandage cuts and scrapes,? McLellan says.
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