Study notes 90 percent increase in MRSA cases

PRINCETON, NJ — A recent study by the Princeton Environmental Institute, in connection with the ecology and evolutionary biology department at Princeton University, reports that the number of cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections has increased by more than 90 percent over the last decade, according to the Daily Princetonian.
The study, which focused on the spread of MRSA infections from 1999 through 2005, found that as many as 17,280 people infected with MRSA died in 2005, more than the number of people who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the same year, the story stated.
Researchers found that the percentage of hospital outpatients who reported community-associated MRSA infections had jumped drastically from about 10 percent to roughly 50 percent between 1999 and 2005, the story noted.
Eili Klein, co-author of the study that was published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, said: "Every time somebody uses an antibiotic, that reduces the number of times the antibiotic can ever be used because it's going to create resistance."
According to the story, hospital-associated MRSA infections have been more common than community-associated MRSA infections, prompting the need for more extensive and effective cleaning regimens in health care facilities.
Klein, along with the other co-author, Ramanan Laxminarayan, stress that MRSA should be "considered a national priority for disease control," the story added.
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