MRSA on the Rise: Infections Have Doubled in 5 Years

The Atlantic | Jul 30 2012, 4:05 PM ET 2  Even as in-hospital infections are on the decline, more people are checking into hospitals with the drug-resistant staph infection than those with either HIV or influenza, combined.  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has rapidly become the bacteria of the decade. MRSA infections now respond only to very advanced antibiotics that were never meant to be a first-line defense. Usually, the drugs have to be delivered intravenously — which often means spending some nights in the hospital. And it doesn’t help that the state of antibiotics is falling behind. With new antibiotics being approved at slower and slower rates, the battle against MRSA has many doctors worrying about creating a superbug they can’t kill at all. Now, new data suggest that the MRSA problem may be even worse than we thought.  Read more