Friday, December 5, 2008 - Page updated at 02:01 a.m.
Culture of resistance
The drug-resistant germ MRSA lurks in Washington hospitals, carried by patients and staff and fueled by inconsistent infection control. This stubborn germ is spreading at an alarming rate, but no one has tracked these cases — until now.
How our hospitals unleashed an epidemic
MRSA has been quietly killing in hospitals for decades. The Seattle Times analyzed millions of records to track the swath of one of the nation's most widespread — and preventable — epidemics.
Want more information? Click here to find resources from public advocates, government health officials and professional groups.
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The burn team uses MRSA contact precautions as it tends to a patient in isolation at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
After deadly outbreaks, hospital slow to change
Harborview Medical Center's struggles tell the story of MRSA: the history of outbreaks, the mounting casualties, the resistance to change. Four decades after its patients began dying of MRSA, Harborview still uses measures that may place patients at risk.
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Norman Hurst, who had suffered devastating burns in a traffic accident, was Harborview's "patient No. 1" of a deadly MRSA breakout that would take 15 months to stamp out.
MRSA: Patients revolt against hospital secrecy
Consumers have demanded more aggressive steps to control infections like MRSA. But in Washington, MRSA rates remain hidden and state initiatives to combat the drug-resistant germ have come up short.
MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
UPDATE - 5:30 AM
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For this project, The Seattle Times confronted a big hurdle: If the state and federal governments don't bother to count MRSA cases, how could we do it ourselves?
Inside the numbers: how we did it
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