MRSA Staph Superbug

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Gut Superbug Causing More Illnesses, Deaths...

Deadly Gut Superbug on the Rise in U.S.
May 28, 2008 - Dangerous gut superbug blamed for 10,000 more hospitalizations in US per year, say researchers

The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year, according to a new study. The germ, resistant to some antibiotics, has become a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes. The study found it played a role in nearly 300,000 hospitalizations in 2005, more than double the number in 2000.

The infection, Clostridium difficile, is found in the colon and can cause diarrhea and a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis. It is spread by spores in feces. But the spores are difficult to kill with most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap. C-diff, as it's known, has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those antibiotics, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes. This virulent strain of C-diff was rarely seen before 2000.

"The nature of this infection is changing. It's more severe," said Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert who was not part of the study. There are other factors that play into the rise of C-diff cases as well, including a larger of number of patients who are older and sicker. "And there may be some overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics," said Dr. Marya Zilberberg, a University of Massachusetts researcher and lead author of the study.

More ABC News: Deadly Gut Superbug on the Rise in U.S.

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possum never does like it when Granny uses one to wipe his face - `specially after Uncle Ferd gets done with it...

Hospital wipes 'spreading MRSA'
Tuesday, 3 June 2008 - Some types of antibacterial wipes used by hospital staff to rid surfaces of bacteria could be helping to spread it, researchers claim.

The Welsh School of Pharmacy found that MRSA survived on the wipe, and then contaminated everything it touched. The team said staff should throw away wipes after cleaning just one surface. An infection control specialist said killing bacteria instantly was not as vital as the need to tackling the dirt and debris on which they thrive. "What is remarkable is that some of these wipes actually have the words 'kills MRSA' written on the box" - Dr Gareth Williams, Welsh School of Pharmacy

Dr Gareth Williams, who is presenting the research at the American Society of Microbiology's Annual Meeting in Boston, said he planned to share his full findings with infection control teams. He visited the intensive care units of Welsh hospitals to watch how staff used wipes, and found it was common for a single wipe to be employed on more than one surface.

"What I found was that staff would wipe one thing, perhaps a bed rail, then move on to several other surfaces, so we went back to the laboratory to see how different wipes performed under these conditions." He discovered that while wipes were quite good at picking up bacteria from the first surface, but were unable to kill off the bacteria they picked up swiftly. This meant that the subsequent cleaning using the same wipe resulted in contamination.

One use only

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Hospitals Taking Steps to Fight "Superbug"...

Hospitals Fighting MRSA Superbug Threat
June 17, 2008 - Health Experts Commend Hospitals for Taking Measures Against MRSA But Say More Efforts Needed

Many U.S. hospitals have taken steps to rid their facilities of a drug-resistant type of "superbug" bacteria called MRSA but there is still a lot of room for improvement, infection control experts said on Tuesday. The findings by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, or APIC, come a year after the same group found MRSA rates were more than eight times as common as believed in U.S. hospitals. That study suggested nearly 5 percent of patients, 46 out of every 1,000, were infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA for short.

In a follow-up survey of more than 2,000 infection control experts, 76 percent said their hospitals have taken additional steps to prevent MRSA transmission in the past year. But 54 percent said their hospitals were not doing as much as they could. Kathy Warye, chief executive of APIC, said in a conference call that hospitals were taking a range of steps to address MRSA, including staff education, more aggressive hand-washing programs, stricter use of gloves, gowns and other measures when working with MRSA-infected patients, a greater emphasis on decontamination and targeted screening of patients.

"This poll indicates that many institutions are moving in the right direction," she said. Of those surveyed who said their hospital has taken steps, 17 percent said their facilities added staff to address infection control and 21 percent added computer software to track infection patterns. Warye said the chief complaint among those who said their facilities could do more was lack of staff and the need for better infection-tracking software. "We are concerned that there are still some facilities that lack resources and commitment across the institution," Warye said.

More ABC News: Hospitals Fighting MRSA Superbug Threat

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New West Nile strain...

New West Nile strain may worsen epidemic
Thurs., July. 3, 2008 WASHINGTON - New version of virus thrives in hot weather, putting North America at risk

A new strain of West Nile virus is spreading better and earlier across the United States, and may thrive in hot American summers, researchers said on Thursday. The virus infected an estimated 175,000 people last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its weekly report on death and disease on Thursday.

The mosquito-borne virus caused an estimated 35,000 cases of fever, was reported to have killed 117 people and caused serious disease such as encephalitis and meningitis in 1,227 people in 2007, the CDC reported.

A second team of researchers said a new strain of the virus that has completely overtaken the original strain is particularly well suited to hotter weather — which in turn means West Nile outbreaks may worsen in the north.

North America at risk

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Lysozyme approach to superbugs...

Zapping microbes with lasers and enzymes
Mon., July. 28, 2008 - New tools could help fight the growing ranks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Researchers fighting the rise of drug-resistant bacteria have found a new guiding light and tapped into the cleansing power of a good cry. Among several promising new ways in which technology is aiding the crisis over drug resistance, British researchers have developed a laser-activated dye system that wipes out microbes. Separately, an antibacterial enzyme found in human tears, lysozyme, is receiving a 21st century makeover from Alabama scientists in a scheme to use ultra-strong carbon nanotubes to lock lysozyme into place for coating susceptible surfaces.

The laser-activated dye could become a potent new weapon in the arsenal aimed at fighting the growing ranks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, said Michael Wilson, a professor of microbiology at University College London's Eastman Dental Institute.

The worst example is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (abbreviated MRSA), which is responsible for many life-threatening infections. Ominously, some strains of MRSA are becoming resistant to the powerful antibiotic vancomycin — considered by many researchers as one of the last lines of defense. In 2005, about 94,360 people in the United States acquired serious MRSA infections, mostly in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Of those, about one in five subsequently died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Community-acquired MRSA infections, although generally less severe, also are on the rise. Among recent high-profile cases, high school football players, wrestlers and other athletes have acquired MRSA infections through skin-to-skin contact.

Zapping microbes