Profession
Tracking MRSA
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted Dec. 10, 2007
While deaths tripled in 2005, the disease has long been a central target of the nation's infection-control professionals.
Nearly 19,000 Americans died from invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 2005, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate. The figure was nearly triple the federal agency's 2001 estimate and set off alarms across the country this fall.
In a recent survey of 790 clinicians involved in hospital infection control, these specialists said insufficient funding and a stretched work force have hobbled efforts to prevent MRSA and other hospital-associated infections. Other responses:
Source: Nonprofit hospital purchasing network Premier Inc., October
Copyright © 2007 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
