It’s back… and it’s more virulent than ever. This time, one of the most common super bugs ever known to health professionals has claimed the lives of several healthy young children and has been infecting countless others.
What is this bug? It’s a type of staph; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). For years now, healthcare facilities have been battling this and other antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria such as VRE (vancomycin resistant enterococci).
One of the most significant factors of concern to medical researchers is that the latest outbreak of MRSA has affected healthy young people in a variety of communities across the nation. This new public health threat is growing; MRSA and other virulent antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are rapidly colonizing outside of healthcare environments and into our homes, our schools and our communities.
As home-based medical care increases, so does the risk of introducing MRSA into any environment. In addition, bacteria such as MRSA are continuously mutating and become more resistant to antibiotics. This is placing the general population at risk of contracting a super bug more than ever before.
To add to this threat, MRSA is not alone; another super bug that is resistant to common antibiotics has been attracting attention, streptococcus pneumoniae. In the elderly this bug often causes pneumonia. In children it can cause ear infections (otitis media); infections that are resistant to our arsenal of currently available antibiotics that are proven safe to use in children. Depending on the site of infection, Streptococcus pneumoniae can also cause bacteremia or meningitis.
Similar to other super bugs, antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal infections are not only difficult to treat, they are expensive to treat. They often require a longer duration of treatment with high doses of antibiotics that can cause more side effects. Although a conjugate pneumococcal vaccine was recommended for the prevention of pneumococcal disease in children in the year 2000; this particular strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae is not covered by the vaccine.
As multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria are becoming more and more common, treatment options are becoming limited. While we wait for the development of new treatment strategies, it is especially important for healthcare professionals to help prevent the spread of infection. Healthcare professionals can do their part by adhering to infection control practices, paying special attention to effective hand hygiene and teaching family and friends the principles to prevent the spread of infection.
For more information from the CDC about MRSA, click here.
For more information from the CDC about S. pneumoniae,
click here.
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