Antibiotic-resistant infection takes toll in US

NEW YORK: The number of people hospitalized in United States due to a potentially deadly, antibiotic- resistant "superbug" more than doubled between 1999 and 2005.

The figures soared from 127,000 to nearly 280,000, a new study has found.

The study co-authored by David Smith, a University of Florida (UF) researcher and faculty member is the first to examine the magnitude and trends related to ethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aurreus or MRSA infection.
   
It will appear in the December issue of 'Emerging Infectious Diseases'.
   
Staph, or Staphylococcus aurreus, are a kind of bacteria that infect wounds and cause life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning and pneumonia. MRSA are "superbugs" that have evolved resistance to most commonly used antibiotics, so they are more difficult and expensive to treat.
   
The study concluded that MRSA and staph infections are now "endemic, and in some cases epidemic" in many hospitals, long-term care facilities and communities in US.
  
"We were the first ones to actually look at trends in MRSA and staph hospitalisations," said Smith, having dual appointment in zoology and UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute.

"MRSA is out of control. Our numbers suggest that staph and MRSA infections should become a national research and public health priority," Smith added.
   
The other authors are Ramanan Laxminarayan and Eili Klein, both of Resources for the Future, a Washington DC based nonprofit organization that conducts independent research on environmental, energy, natural resources, and public health issues.

Study found that the pattern of infection is changing. The researchers saw dramatic increases in the rate of minor skin and soft tissue infections caused by staph and MRSA that are commonly spread outside hospital walls. At the same time, there was no trend in the number of deaths from hospital- associated staph or MRSA infections.

"Taken together, these findings indicate a change in the ecology of the disease," Laxminarayan said. "Antibiotic- resistant infections are spreading more rapidly in the community while the epidemic of drug-resistant infections in hospitals continues unabated."

In all likelihood, the researchers say, MRSA infections are spreading in both hospitals and communities, complicating efforts to prevent infections in hospital patients.

Hospital-acquired infections from all causes result in an estimated 90,000 deaths per year and are the sixth leading cause of death nationally, the study found. They also increase patient suffering and the length of time patients spend in the hospital in addition to direct health care costs, estimated to be more than $6 billion annually.
   
"Research on antibiotic resistance, and on development of therapies to treat antibiotic-resistant infections, should clearly be a national priority," Dr J Glenn Morris Jr, professor and director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida and an expert on hospital infections said.

Several studies have estimated that antibiotic-resistant infections increase direct costs by 30 per cent to 100 per cent. MRSA-specific studies suggest that the additional cost of treating an antibiotic-resistant staph infection versus an antibiotic-sensitive infection range from a minimum of USD 3,000 to more than USD 35,000 per case.