MRSA Strain has High Death Rate

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital have identified a strain of MRSA five times more deadly than other known strains.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium in the body resistant to common antibiotics such as penicillin, causing skin, bloodstream and surgical wound infections.  This specific strain is also resistant to vancomycin, a powerful antibiotic used to treat MRSA. Fifty percent of patients infected with the strain died within 30 days, compared to 11 percent caused by other MRSA strands.

“While many MRSA strains are associated with poor outcomes, the USA600 stain has shown to be more lethal and cause high mortality rates,” Carol Moore, PharmD., research investigator in Henry Ford’s Division of Infectious Diseases and lead author of the study, was quoted as saying.

The strand’s unique characteristics may be responsible for its high death rate, according to researchers. Future research is necessary to determine whether additional factors such as age, other diseases and spread of infection contribute to the strand’s lethal reaction.

“In light of the potential for the spread of this virulent and resistant strain and its associated mortality, it is essential that more effort be directed to better understanding this strain to develop measures for managing it,” Moore was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, October 29 in Philadelphia

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