New York - Infectious disease experts warned several years ago that MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infections were on the increase and 19,000 annual deaths were to be expected. But a new study just released contradicts that estimate, and in fact, indicates MRSA infections have dropped for at least one major medical procedure: the catheter insertion. The study surveyed the intensive care units at 1600 different hospitals, and those surveys reported a decline in MRSA cases of about 50% over the last ten years.
Catheter insertion procedures have long been associated with MRSA cases due the the fact that insertion breaks the skin, allowing bacteria an access point to the blood stream and other vital internal areas. But care and prevention practices aimed at stopping MRSA seem to be having a positive affect throughout the health care industry.
Many states have enacted laws aimed at stopping the spread of infectious diseases in hospitals and other health care facilities, but the authors of the study say the decline in MRSA infections began before these laws were put in place. Opponents of the legislation maintain that the laws are neither scientifically proven to be effective, nor worth the financial cost of implementation.
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