"Superbug" Deaths In U.S. May Surpass AIDS

90,000 Americans Get Potentially Deadly Infections From Drug-Resistant Staph Germs, CDC Says

(CBS/AP)  More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.

Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.

Dr. Monica Klevens of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency that conducted the study, spoke to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook, putting the numbers into shocking context.

"So what that means," Klevens said, "is that it's the equivalent of having a death related to MRSA about every 30 minutes in the U.S in a year."

The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.

Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections. But this study focused on invasive infections - those that enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and can turn deadly.

Researchers found that only about one-quarter involved hospitalized patients. However, more than half were in the health care system - people who had recently had surgery or were on kidney dialysis, for example. Open wounds and exposure to medical equipment are major ways the bug spreads.

In recent years, the resistant germ has become more common in hospitals and it has been spreading through prisons, gyms and locker rooms, and in poor urban neighborhoods.

The new study offers the broadest look yet at the pervasiveness of the most severe infections caused by the MRSA bug. These bacteria can be carried by healthy people, living on their skin or in their noses.

An invasive form of the disease is being blamed for the death Monday of a 17-year-old Virginia high school senior. Doctors said the germ had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and muscles around his heart.

The researchers' estimates are extrapolated from 2005 surveillance data from nine mostly urban regions considered representative of the country. There were 5,287 invasive infections reported that year in people living in those regions, which would translate to an estimated 94,360 cases nationally, the researchers said.

Most cases were life-threatening bloodstream infections. However, about 10 percent involved so-called flesh-eating disease, according to the study.

There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the study, for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate to 18,650 deaths annually, although the researchers don't know if MRSA was the cause in all cases.

If these deaths all were related to staph infections, the total would exceed other better-known causes of death including AIDS - which killed an estimated 17,011 Americans in 2005 - said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Los Angeles County Health Department, the editorial author.

The results underscore the need for better prevention measures. That includes curbing the overuse of antibiotics and improving hand-washing and other hygiene procedures among hospital workers, said the CDC's Dr. Scott Fridkin, a study co-author.

Dr. LaPook spoke to Judy Tarselli, a hygiene specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who demonstrated the alcohol-based hand cleansers health workers use there. Tarselli also stressed the importance of this simple precaution.

"Hand hygiene is the single most important thing we can do to stop the transmission of germs that can cause infections in our patients," she said.

Massachusetts General's efforts have paid off. Since their handwashing program started five years ago, Dr. LaPook reports, they've been able to reduce their invasive staph infections - including MSRA - by half.

Some hospitals have also drastically cut infections by first isolating new patients until they are screened for MRSA.

The bacteria don't respond to penicillin-related antibiotics once commonly used to treat them, partly because of overuse. They can be treated with other drugs but health officials worry that their overuse could cause the germ to become resistant to those, too.

Dr. LaPook told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric that people should not immediately ask their doctor for antibiotics and when they are prescribed, patients should get in the habit of asking, "Do I really need to take antibiotics?"

A survey earlier this year suggested that MRSA infections, including noninvasive mild forms, affect 46 out of every 1,000 U.S. hospital and nursing home patients - or as many as 5 percent. These patients are vulnerable because of open wounds and invasive medical equipment that can help the germ spread.

Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, said the JAMA study emphasizes the broad scope of the drug-resistant staph "epidemic," and highlights the need for a vaccine, which he called "the holy grail of staphylococcal research."

The regions studied were: the Atlanta metropolitan area; Baltimore, Connecticut; Davidson County, Tenn.; the Denver metropolitan area; Monroe County, NY; the Portland, Ore. metropolitan area; Ramsey County, Minn.; and the San Francisco metropolitan area.

[fairandbal]

I''m betting that within a day or two of this report, Fox News and the rest of the MSM will try to blame it on Hillary.

[jn122736]

Most of us wash our hands after using public restrooms and feel that we are safe, but it has been my observation that the vast majority of men who wash their hands after using the restrooms do so in ten seconds or less, some just quick rinse and dry.

It is generally reccomended that one wash their hands with soap for AT LEAST 20 seconds. a good way to do that is to count to 30 while actually scrubbing.

[why_not_nar]

Katie, Thanks. I am again astonished by the brilliance of your interviewing technique. "What can you do to prevent the over prescription of antibiotics?"

Yes- indeed take them less often and ask your doctor to prescribe them less often. Questions like that and we all could have scored 900 on each college sat. At least it wasn%u2019t asking a stage four cancer patient if she knew she was going to die soon. Or to paraphrase you, %u201Cwhat is the stupidest question you have ever asked in your entire career?"

Your audience is often portrayed having an average age of 60. Does your research also indicate that we are all stupid? Now I understand what dan rather meant by dumbing down the news.

I know that you love the beatles. I do as well. Particularly a song appearing in their %u201Cwhite%u201D album.

%u201CNow%u2019s the time to say good night%u201D.

[hollyt2-2009]

there is a ton of people who dont wash thier hands and they touch the door handles to push out and then we have to push it open . Moral is always your your upper covered arm to push the door and never push the handle down on the towels without something between you and the handle.

[grammawhamma]

This is caused by the over use and abuse of anti-biotics. We have become a pill popping society that runs to the doctor for every little sniffle and demand anti-biotics for a viral infection. Doctors used to just prescribe antibiotics to appease the patient but now they are finially realizing the outcome of over use.

[srhs08]

I am a senior at the Virginia high school where the student died, and the community does not know enough. We need to educate the community more on MRSA; the middle school next door to us had no idea that MRSA was a problem until the morning of the death. We ride the same buses as these students. This is unacceptable and we need to do something about this, we need to let people know about this deadly infection.

[mweis06]

Unfortunately, these cases are not just statistics, they are real people not number 18,650. Go to http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=55388 and read about Mark Weis, age 13, who died from MRSA on August 23, 2007. We have AIDS awareness and concerts. Where is MRSA awareness and concerts? Perhaps we have to wait for someone "famous" to die from MRSA, not just someone''s brother, child, or friend to bring attention to this epidemic of an estimated 18,650 deaths annually. How sad.

[hypnotoad72]

And unlike AIDS, staph typically isn''t spread by contact of choice.

And I wholly agree; overuse of anti-bacterial solutions has exacerbated this problem no end...

[hypnotoad72]

jn122736 - I wonder if Larry Craig might be able to tell everybody how often men wash their hands when done in the bathroom...

[ladyelec]

What happened to keeping hospitals cold, to cut down on the breeding of germs and bacteria? The carpets, get rid of them, there was a reason for tile floors, they can be sanitized! Carpets are a breeding ground! And to keep a room from looking totally nasty they have to be replaced often, save money go back to tiles.

[heatherav]

Okay seriously people need to listen to me about this! I was 6 months pregnant and got bit by a spider, doctors did a biopsy of it and i had staff (MRSA) I was pregnant so they couldnt treat it like they usually would. I used essential oils (oregano, theives, ect.) I got them to test it again and I didnt have staff and I had a healthy baby. I then had to have a c-section, it got infected so they tested it again, I also got staff (MRSA) in my wound. They wanted me to stop breastfeeding my baby and start her on formula, so they could treat it. Because she was too young to handle it. I obviously said no way and I then took my vitamins from GNLD and started using my essential oils and it is now gone! I had them biopsy it again for a third time, it came back negative! I am now healthy with no staff and my baby has no staff. Essential oils are all natural oils. The oregano that I used is straight oregano. It will kill anything!! If you need any information on any of this, feel free to contact me at [e-mail]

[eberardinell]

My 12 year old son got MRSA in his thumb when he was about 9 years old. It took them a few months to figure out what it was. We were told that it will always be in his system just lay dorment until something may trigger it again. This is very scary for me to hear it is becoming more common. I am asuming he is at a higher risk to get it again.

[ladyd1800]

The reason staph surpases AIDS is because it takes longer for AIDS to kill you, this just gets right to the point. Just another reason to be mindful people!!

[TH_John]

Two weeks ago today my wife underwent emergency surgery to removed the MRSA infected tissue under her right collar bone. We had been consulting with our clinicians for 3 days in person and on the phone and not once did they prescribe antibiotics. They did however prescribe pain medication in increasing doses that kept her quiet and moderately pain free while the infection went undiagnosed and unabated and undetered by any antibiotics whatsoever. By the time we fired the primary care doctor who was careful not to overprescribe any antibiotics and arrived at the nearest Emergency Room - she was nearly dead.

It''s easy to tell us all to stop taking so many antibiotics but unfortunately such cautions will kill more while precious time is wasted by conscientious patients and clinicians wait while ''it'' runs it''s course.

[redsweep2004]

Be alert to color tatoo ink. My 21 year old daughter will always be a carrier of MRMSA simply from a tatoo. It starts out like a tiny pimple near or in the tatoos. The DR said a gym was highly likey source of infection. Our town of 15,000 had school gyms washed down.

[xzavierbrown]

jn122736 - I wonder if Larry Craig might be able to tell everybody how often men wash their hands when done in the bathroom...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by hypnotoad72 at 07:10 PM : Oct 16, 2007
+ report abuse


*****

maybe you should tell your dad to wash his mouth after he his done..in a men''s room

[mythoughtsr]

HeatherAV, you are a lunatic posting something like that here. People die because they are gullible for these stupid fly by night treatments. Jeez.

MRSA is terrifying. I had it after an operation and wound up staying two full months in the hospital on all sorts of super antibiotics. I''m lucky I lived. The only thing I sprinkled oregano on was the lousy hospital pizza. WOW, the stuff people will post.

[tnt1954]

biological weapons factories are not just in
the u.s.a. each government has one. of course
there are many treaties about such. but did ya know
its illegal to drive over 65 mph on the freeway.
the social compact says so. so many people disobey
the social compact. real, live scofflaws. so
that''s my main reason for pessimism for the planet''s
future.

[hawksprings]

Deaths from Superbugs will exceed AIDS deaths?

Now compare how much government spending there is on AIDS versus "Superbugs."

[ssm9451]

This is scary stuff. Nothing to mess with. My son is a respiratory therapist who had a small cut on his hand, then developed MRSA in his hand. Almost lost his arm. He was kept in isolation with his arm & hand tied up in the air and was on IV antibiotics for a long time. Got the germ from working in the hospital. I''m staying out of hospitals!

[getitfree]

I don''t believe in wmds.

[truthheals]

I want to know why the article did not mention the main
reason for the superbugs.

I work in healthcare.
And the main reason is the regime of hyper-antibiotics used to treat aids. Their bodies quite literally act as incubators for bugs that are lethal to those not receiving the drugs. Especially, lung bugs.

Some may not like to hear it, but the only way to solve a problem like this is frank discussion.

What is the answer? Who knows?
But first get the question right.

[truthheals]

I want to know why the article did not mention the main
reason for the superbugs.

I work in healthcare.
And the main reason is the regime of hyper-antibiotics used to treat aids. Their bodies quite literally act as incubators for bugs that are lethal to those not receiving the drugs. Especially, lung bugs.

Some may not like to hear it, but the only way to solve a problem like this is frank discussion.

What is the answer? Who knows?
But first get the question right.

[nearl4511]

We have venerable glut of antibiotics in this COuntry and drug companies pushing sales instead of public health.

15 years ago, you had to have a culture done to get antibiotics for throat ailments; now they sell the stuff like candy. OF COURSE there are going to be resistant strains.

Antibacterial sanitation also contributes. Need to close a few hospital wings down and let normal bacteria grow there for a while......then the biocides will start to work again.

[tinnyfry]

Your piece on superbugs was interesting but perhaps it only told part of the story: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; MRSA, evolved over the past several decades due in part to the over prescription of antibiotics particularly in the 50s and 60s, but also by patients failing to finish their Rx. This allowed staph a. to morph as opposed to die. (The typical antibiotic kills by destroying the cell wall of the bug, preventing it from multiplying and killing it.) Staph a. is not new. It''s subsequent generations morphed because they were not effectively killed in the first place. S. Lund, RN

[joanwho]

Your piece was shallow Why won''t you name hospital''s that are killing people. I can tell you about neglgent care at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Belair, Md that would curl your hair, since my daughter almost died there. It is only by the Grace of God and friends and family that I was able to have her transfered to Johns Hopkins Hospital in very critical condition. You have no clue to the problem of incompotent medical that exist in this country.

[danstoned]

Cons can not understand this story, although it is simple science, as is global warming! All Cons see is the AIDS part of the story , and think that their told you so attitude towards *** is why the story exists in the first place.

Corporate journalism frequently has no clue how dumb their audience in the USA really is. 8 years of Ronald Reagan, now 8 years of GW Bush just goes to show all of US how dangerous the USA has become as a nuclear nation. The USA is not a democracy! It is a LIE

[tinnyfry]

Your piece on superbugs was interesting but perhaps it only told part of the story: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; MRSA, evolved over the past several decades due in part to the over prescription of antibiotics particularly in the 50s and 60s, but also by patients failing to finish their Rx. This allowed staph a. to morph as opposed to die. (The typical antibiotic kills by destroying the cell wall of the bug, preventing it from multiplying and killing it.) Staph a. is not new. It''s subsequent generations morphed because they were not effectively killed in the first place. S. Lund, RN

[tinnyfry]

Your piece on superbugs was interesting but perhaps it only told part of the story: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; MRSA, evolved over the past several decades due in part to the over prescription of antibiotics particularly in the 50s and 60s, but also by patients failing to finish their Rx. This allowed staph a. to morph as opposed to die. (The typical antibiotic kills by destroying the cell wall of the bug, preventing it from multiplying and killing it.) Staph a. is not new. It''s subsequent generations morphed because they were not effectively killed in the first place. S. Lund, RN

[tinnyfry]

Your piece on superbugs was interesting but perhaps it only told part of the story: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; MRSA, evolved over the past several decades due in part to the over prescription of antibiotics particularly in the 50s and 60s, but also by patients failing to finish their Rx. This allowed staph a. to morph as opposed to die. (The typical antibiotic kills by destroying the cell wall of the bug, preventing it from multiplying and killing it.) Staph a. is not new. It''s subsequent generations morphed because they were not effectively killed in the first place. S. Lund, RN

[tinnyfry]

Your piece on superbugs was interesting but perhaps it only told part of the story: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus; MRSA, evolved over the past several decades due in part to the over prescription of antibiotics particularly in the 50s and 60s, but also by patients failing to finish their Rx. This allowed staph a. to morph as opposed to die. (The typical antibiotic kills by destroying the cell wall of the bug, preventing it from multiplying and killing it.) Staph a. is not new. It''s subsequent generations morphed because they were not effectively killed in the first place. S. Lund, RN

[hammerp562]

Your News on the Superbug is needed. I have had several small bouts of this MRSA. It is in the skin for now, very easy to transfer to someone with an open sore. It is very hard to get it out of your system. While in the hospital the last time, I noticed the workers were not as careful as they should have been. I can see why this stuff spreads. I understand if it gets into your bloodstream it can be deadly.

[sftodd]

The problem is that we have a system that rewards illness, not health. Any stupid republican can understand that as long as you reward illness and punish health, you will get more illness.

[nurse70-2009]

CULTURES SHOULD BE PERFORMED BEFORE AN ANTIBIOTIC IS PRESCRIBED, WHETHER IT BE FOR A WOUND,URINE,OR SPUTUM M.R.S.A IS CONTRACTED AND CAN HAVE AN OVERGROWTH OF FATAL PROPORTION.THOSE AT HIGHEST RISKS ARE PEOPLE WITH WEAKENDED IMMUNE SYSTEMS SUCH AS; A.I.D.S./H.I.V. PATIENTS,DIABETICS,ELDERLY,PEDIATRICS,CANCER PATIENTS, AND ANY BODY ELSE WITH A LOW WHITE COUNT.ONCE YOU CONTRACT M.R.S.A. YOU ARE A CARRIER.YOU DO NOT "GET IT AGAIN". IT NEVER LEFT.IT CAN RE-EMERGE IN ANY OF YOUR BODY''S SYSTEM WHEN YOU ARE WEAK OR ILL. STAPH LIVES IN OUR ENVIRONMENT,THE RESISTANT TYPE IS M.R.S.A. AND IT JUST MEANS IT HAS BECOME RESISTANT TO METHACYLLINE.WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY AND THOROUGHLY.DON''T DEMAND ANTIBIOTICS FROM YOUR PHYSICIAN,DO A CULTURE AND BE SURE AN ANTIBIOTIC IS WARRANTED.SENSITIVITY TESTS WILL TELL THE PRESCRIBER WHICH DRUG WILL TREAT YOUR SPECIFIC PROBLEM.HOSPITALS ARE NOT THE ONLY PLACE TO BE INFECTED.ANYWHERE THAT PEOPLE ARE HOUSED IN CLOSE QUARTERS IS SUSEPTABLE TO M.R.S.A.- JAILS,SCHOOLS,LOCKER ROOMS,AND NURSING HOMES.TO THE FEMALE WHO STATED THAT SHE WAS CURED FROM M.R.S.A. BY OREGANO? MAYBE YOU SHOULD SPEND A LOT LESS TIME PROCREATING AND A LITTLE MORE TIME ON EDUCATION. THAT IS UNBELIEVEABLY STUPID! WHO ACTUALLLY HAS *** WITH THESE STUPID PEOPLE? AND IT''S STAPH INFECTION... NOT STAFF INFECTION. IF YOU WILL PUBLISH YOUR ADDRESS I''M SURE MOST OF US WILL MAIL YOU SOME CONDOMS AND HOPEFULLY STOP THE STUPIDITY BEFORE IT SPREADS! O.M.G.!!!

[searingtruth]

Tick, Tick

Fellow citizens, the truth is that our present can only be as stable as our future.

For too long we have hobbled from decade to decade, generation to generation, and millennium to millennium, myopically adhering to superfluous battles that can never be won. Never once as a species forwarding or embracing an all encompassing path towards a certainly better future.

Our excuses have been many, our reasoning mostly incoherent, and our lack of vision as a species, certainly fatal.

For in the meantime, as each tick of the ages has passed, the critical threats posed and ignored by our species discordance have increased exponentially.

Pandemic famine and disease, massively destructive weapons, fatal atmospheric and climate change, super volcanic eruptions, catastrophic space body impacts, Orwellian societies of unparalleled oppression, and many other global catastrophes too numerous to list here, waiting to befall us at any moment.

...

My friends, the truth is that if we do not fight for and secure freedom today, the time will very soon come when it will be almost impossible to do so.

In retrospect, when one soberly considers the critical challenges that we must face together to survive as a species, our differences, at times, can become almost imperceptible.


Excerpt from A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[swwils]

This has been around awhile and now it suddenly is an epedemic.MRSA was in ottercreek correctional facility in 2002,2003.The private ran prison hid this from the families of the inmates and quarantined the place.Locked us down.It was uncontrolled and spread by inmates in the wieght yard and self tattoos.Bleach was the final solution,and big time sickness.We were not treated because we were offenders ,I guess a lower form of life to some.I was a drunk driver, so I suppose in the eyes of the system I deserved Staph,I didn''t catch it thanks to my military training and Gods Blessings.But a lot of so called undesireables didand never recieved medication.I don''t know what happened to the van loads that left the grounds and never returned.Everyone better take heed to this report,that is some nasty stuff.It will kill you ,and we must find an antibiotic that will crush it.So I think the speaker of the house can give up her jet for funding.Iraq can throw some money in also,God knows we have spent plenty over their.

[rnekich]

I have two extremely specialized surgical procedures comming soon and now I feel that I should demand isolation protocal through out the entire hospital stay. Along with bringing a case of Lysol Disenfectant spray to the Hospital with me, and with all who enter my room to wear anti-biological suits with re-breathers helmets atatched to them. Hospitals can only do so much much with HMO''S standing over them telling them what they can do and what they can not do. We in America have such a shortage of professionally trained nurses that the HMO''s have given up on personal clenliness while working in our nations Hospitals over Profit resulting in drug resistant staff imfections that kill.

[alphaa10-2009]

A member of my family recently died from a MRSA-driven pneumonia. All the powerful antibiotics available-- vancomycin, rubimycin, and others-- could only slow the disease. Worst of all, even the antibiotics created an edema eventually as life-threatening as MRSA itself.

Apparently, my family had chosen the wrong time to have a crisis, and no drugs were widely available which might have saved our family member.

Only recently, some 45 days after the death occurred, has the nation''s health media awakened with alarm to what even US hospitals now term an "epidemic" out of control.

Advice to the wary-- avoid the hospital, if you can. Almost every US hospital is infected with super-staph MRSA, and most institutions simply will avoid talking about it. With declining effectiveness for the super-antibiotics, the situation begs for emergency measures, not silence and more "damage control" by the all-too-powerful hospital associations of the country.

[alphaa10-2009]

rnekich-- research the subject of bisphosphonates. This startling breakthrough holds the first promise in years of stopping the superbug in its tracks.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/13/earlyshow/health/main3055367.shtml

Be aware that stringent isolation protocols are less than perfect-- especially when staff members do things like use the same blood-pressure cuff on all patients.

One study found even doctors unwittingly spread disease by allowing their own ties to drape across a patient''s abdomen. Many staff-- doctors and nurses alike-- sometimes ignore handwashing requirements (whether they do so knowlingly is another issue).

In all events, make sure a family member is present in the room whenever possible. A family advocate can monitor situations and make sure the right thing is done at the right time. Always take notes-- with date, time and the names of those involved.

[getitfree]

You just need stronger cheese.

[getitfree]

Studies prove that its us folks who eat our boogers and don''t clean up our houses that are the ones most resistant to "superbugs". All that makeup and stencil and fancy white teeth antiseptic has made you people too pretty for reality. To me? Sexxxy is showering twice a month.

Maybe they should start building hospitals outta barns.

[getitfree]

Ya wanna make believe? Ya wanna pretend the world is clean? And white? And spotless? Nature''s watch''n. And she don''t like it.

Within the confines''a Mr. Clean cleaner thrives a bug whose tell''n hisself: "Its me! And only me!" Not: "Its Mr. Clean."

[getitfree]

I still remember when my buddy''s power went out overseas. And he came back a month later a freezer fulla fresh supermarket meat, and he opened that freezer door, no power, and out poured a waterfall of maggots. "How''d they git there?!" He said. "All that meat was new!"

"They were in the meat." I said. They''re in you..

[getitfree]

Oh sure, I believe yaz. Yer high class, super dupper good smell''n, rich people of a angelic stature. Yer farttts smell like roses.. Yer shyyyt don''t stink. Ya puke on the floor after yer champaign parties, and they scrape the stuff up after yaz left and sell it as butter toffee..

But stink is the way''a the world! And everybody smells.. Everybody. Even you.

[getitfree]

Sue that superbug. It might git offended..

[gmond]

getitfree is super bugging me.

[slim1h2o]

Doctors,,,ya gotta love''em. Over prescribing drugs to treat the symptoms, instead of trying to figure out the root cause. They take the lazy mans way out.

Shut up, abd take your medicine..........LOL

[slim1h2o]

should be "and take your medicine"

[getitfree]

Heck, I wouldn''t be serprised if dat der superbug called up a attorney.

[gitplayer1]

As the result of a serious injury, I contracted ostomyelitis in 2004 in my left ankle.

When my surgeon told me that he would have to amputate my left leg below the knee, I went home and took megadoses of Vitamin C (Ester C)in the amounts of between 9 and 12,000 mg for 14 days.

When I went to the hospital, I was told that the infection was gone. I still have both legs and can walk.