Seattle/LocalHealthGuide

Washington state hospitals have failed to introduce infection control measures that could reduce the number of serious infections and deaths due to the antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as MRSA, (Multi-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), according to a series running in the Seattle Times this week.

Over the past decade the number of Washington hospital patients with MRSA infections has risen from 141 a year to 4,723, the paper’s reporters Michael J Berens and Ken Armstrong write.

Sifting through state files, the two reporters identified 672 deaths in the state involving MRSA infections that were previously not known.

The medical facilities of the US Department of Veterans Affairs have adopted aggressive screening programs that have reduced MRSA infections within VA hospitals to nearly zero, but area hospitals have not taken up the practice and their staffs often fall short of meeting even basic infection control standards such as hand-washing, Berens and Armstrong write.

But aggressive screening programs have not gained wide acceptance nationwide and were rejected in a recent report by a scientific expert panel charged by Gov. Christine Gregoire to identify the most effective strategies for combating antibiotic-resistant organisms, including MRSA.

PHOTO CREDIT: Janice Haney Carr / CDC - This scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicts numerous clumps of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly referred to by the acronym, MRSA

To learn more:

• Read the Seattle Times series “Culture of Resistance“.
• Read the report by the Governor’s panel: Evidence-Based Monitoring Strategy and Interventions for Antibiotic Resistant Organisms.
• Visit the Washington State Department of Health’s information page on MRSA, which has a link to information for health-care workers.
• Visit the website of the CDC’s National MRSA Education Initiative.
• Visit the CDC’s webpage on MRSA in health-care settings.