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CDC publishes MRSA study

Rehab Regs, October 26, 2007

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was in the headlines this week, making news everywhere from The New York Times to CNN.

The news reports were prompted by a government study, published October 17 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that found nearly 19,000 people died in the United States in 2005 after being infected with MRSA. Most of the infections were associated with healthcare settings and show the need for healthcare facilities to make MRSA prevention a greater priority, said Denise Cardo, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, in a press release.

If the mortality estimates are correct, the number of deaths associated with MRSA would exceed those attributed to HIV-AIDS, Parkinson's disease, emphysema, or homicide each year, reported the Times.

Researchers from the CDC, who authored the study, estimated that 94,360 patients developed a MRSA infection in 2005 and that nearly one in every five died. Researchers said they were surprised by the prevalence of MRSA infections, which they calculated as 32 cases per 100,000 people.

Because of public interest, the study is currently available for free on the JAMA Web site at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/298/15/1763.

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