Public Health Preparedness | MRSA

(8/03/2009) Genes Key to Staph Disease Severity, Drug Resistance Found Hitchhiking Together
Source: NIH News

Summary: Scientists studying Staphylococcus bacteria, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), have discovered a potent staph toxin responsible for disease severity. They also found the gene for the toxin traveling with a genetic component of Staphylococcus that controls resistance to antibiotics. The study, now online in PLoS Pathogens, shows for the first time that genetic factors that affect Staphylococcus virulence and drug resistance can be transferred from one strain to another in one exchange event. To read full article, click here.

(1/19/2009) Doctors Report ‘Alarming’ Rise of MRSA in Kids
Source: MSNBC WISE Ft. Wayne

Summary: Researchers say they found an "alarming" increase in children's ear, nose and throat infections nationwide caused by dangerous drug-resistant staph germs. Other studies have shown rising numbers of skin infections in adults and children caused by these germs, nicknamed MRSA, but this is the first nationwide report on how common they are in deeper tissue infections in the head and neck, the study authors said. These include certain ear and sinus infections, and abscesses that can form in the tonsils and throat. To read full article, click here.

For more information about this program, please contact:
 
Jenifer Nelson
Emergency Management Program Director
Indiana Primary Health Care Association
Phone: (317) 630-0845
Fax:     (317) 630-0849
jnelson@indianapca.org