Superbug infections climbing in Canadian hospitals: report
27.03.2008 09:01
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
At least 2,300 people died in 2006 as a result of an MRSA superbug and nearly 12,000 new patients were infected, as rates of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to climb in Canadian hospitals, according to new figures released by the federal government. A national surveillance program using data from 48 hospitals in nine provinces found 5,787 new cases of infection by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in 2006. Dr. Andrew Simor, who co-chaired the surveillance program, extrapolated those figures to estimate the number of MRSA-related deaths in Canadian hospitals. As well, he calculated there were 29,000 new patients carrying MRSA bacteria in 2006, of whom 11,700 had new infections. Hospitals main source of infectionsOf the cases recorded from the nine provinces, 62 per cent were thought to have been acquired in network hospitals. But 15 per cent were believed to be community-acquired, a rate that has doubled in Canada over the last five years, Simor said. The remaining cases would have been acquired in long-term care facilities, hospitals outside the network or were of unknown origin. MRSA usually causes only mild infections, but can progress to large boils, hemorrhagic pneumonia or flesh-eating disease in rare cases. It rarely affects healthy people and is most often seen in hospitals and nursing homes, where it is considered a problem because it is resistant to the antibiotics penicillin and methicillin. It must be treated with vancomycin, an antibiotic that is only used as a last resort because it is extremely irritating to human tissue. Infection rate slower than in U.S.Simor said the 2006 figures show a slow and steady increase over previous years. "I think it's a mixed story. There's good news and there's bad news," Simor, chief microbiologist at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, told the Canadian Press. "The good news is our rates remain substantially less than what is seen in the United States and many other parts of the world. No question about that — that's good news." "The bad news is despite our best efforts, we've not yet been able to control the spread of MRSA in our hospitals, and there is a continued and steady increase that has taken place, albeit at a slower rate than is seen south of the border. Nonetheless, this is of concern." The report showed that the rate of new MRSA detections in hospitals was 8.04 per 1,000 hospital admissions. In 1995, when national data on MRSA was first collected, the rate per 1,000 admissions was less than one per cent. With files from the Canadian PressPost a commentPeople have commented on this storyRecommend this storyPeople have recommended this storyStory Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKStory comments (0)Sort:Most recent | First to lastPost your commentNote: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are pre-moderated/reviewed and published according to our submission guidelines. You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Sign upComment:Characters allowed: 2500PostSubmission policyIn the BlogsMost Blogged about CBC.ca Articles U.S. must move beyond race, Obama says in frank speechBell crimps P2P file-sharing during peak hoursDownload Canada's Next Great Prime Minister BitTorrentsFull list of articles » Search TechnoratiNote: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window #technorati_holder { visibility:visible !important; }
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