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Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts

Eye-opening numbers on antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' dwarf previous estimates

By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 25, 2007 4:39 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Over a million hospital patients contract a dangerous, drug-resistant staph infection every year, a rate 10 times more than previously thought. Tens of thousands infected with antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" may die from what officials call one of the nation's most serious public-health threats, today's Chicago Tribune reports.

Medical professionals at 1,200 hospitals and 100 nursing homes responded to a survey that helped researchers create a "snapshot" of the infection rate in fall 2005, an unorthodox but revealing methodology. What it shows is shocking: The bacteria, which can be spread every time a patient rubs his nose, are rampant in US health-care facilities.

TO GO WITH NKOREA-MEDICINE-FRANCE-NGO BY PHILIPPE AGRET Two...
TO GO WITH NKOREA-MEDICINE-FRANCE-NGO BY PHILIPPE AGRET Two...   (Getty Images)
Drug-resistant staph infections have spread to the urban poor, rising almost seven-fold in recent years in some Chicago neighborhoods, a new study finds. (AP GRAPHIC)
Drug-resistant staph infections have spread to the urban poor, rising almost seven-fold in recent years in some Chicago neighborhoods, a new study finds. (AP GRAPHIC)   (Associated Press)
University of Michigan freshman Alicja Sobilo wears a surgical mask at work as part of a study as to whether the use of masks affects the spread of flu or other respiratory illnesses in Ann Arbor, Mich., in this Jan. 31, 2007 file photo. If a super-flu strikes, face masks...
University of Michigan freshman Alicja Sobilo wears a surgical mask at work as part of a study as to whether the use of masks affects the spread of flu or other respiratory illnesses in Ann Arbor, Mich.,...   (Associated Press)
Fred Bledsoe, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, holds a vial of the bacteriophage his staph infection was treated with in the former Soviet Union's Republic of Georgia.
Fred Bledsoe, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, holds a vial of the bacteriophage his staph infection was treated with in the former Soviet Union's Republic of Georgia.   (KRT Photos)
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Health officials react to the new data
San Francisco Chronicle

More on the methodology and results
Wired

 
medicine • bacteria • staph infections • superbug • antibiotics • infection • hospital

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