Posted on 03/05/2003 1:38:07 PM PST by blam
Drug-resistant superbug now hitting the healthy
Scientists have warned a drug-resistant superbug that has swept through US hospitals infecting patients is now hitting healthy people.
MRSA normally enters the wounds of patients weakened by disease or injury, and is especially dangerous after surgery.
But a new strain, which can be transmitted simply by skin contact and poses a risk to healthy people, has emerged.
The development first occurred in the United States, where thousands of people have already been infected.
The strain is said to have been spreading rapidly in crowded prisons, but there have also been numerous smaller outbreaks in towns and cities across the US.
Although most of the infected people are gay men, the superbug is not restricted to this group - athletes, schoolchildren, and newborn infants have all fallen victim.
The infections usually appear as sores that resemble insect bites. If not treated properly, abscesses and boils can develop requiring repeated courses of antibiotics or surgery.
If it reaches the lungs or bloodstream, MRSA can cause pneumonia or deadly septicaemia blood poisoning.
There has also been one report of the bug spreading via food, causing gastroenteritis.
New Scientist reports a number of recent MRSA cases on the other side of the Atlantic have raised the spectre of the new strain reaching Europe.
MRSA with the PVL gene has recently been identified in two HIV-positive gay men in the Netherlands, and two new PVL strains have caused small outbreaks among health care workers in Scotland.
Story filed: 20:17 Wednesday 5th March 2003
Sorry, don't know. There's another thread on this subject with more info.
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