Daily HealthBeat Tip - December 06, 2007

Fighting a strong bug

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking a germ called methicillin-resistant staph aureus, or MRSA, which is tough enough to fight common antibiotics.

In a mild case, MRSA might cause a skin infection. At its worst, it can be fatal. The CDC reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association that MRSA caused more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and nearly 19,000 deaths in 2005. Most cases in which infection was not minor were associated with health care settings. 

CDC researcher Monina Klevens:

``That’s not to say that health care is not safe, but rather that health care has its risks.’’ (9 seconds)

Care providers can fight infection, but so can patients, by insisting on it.  

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008