Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is causing serious infections and deaths in the United States. MRSA is now divided into community-acquired (CA-MRSA) and hospital-acquired (HA-MRSA).
Hand washing helps prevent the spread of both forms of MRSA. Hand sanitizers are also very useful in breaking the chain of transmission.
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Almost 6,400 HA-MRSA bacteraemia (bloodstream infections) were recorded in acute hospitals in England in 2006/07. Contributes to or directly causes many hundreds of deaths each year and costs the NHS tens of millions of pounds. All healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) combined cost at least £1bn per year and are thought to cause at least 5000 deaths annually.
UK Department of Health publication (2008) “Hospital organization, specialty mix and HA-MRSA” makes it clear high bed occupancy rates, temporary staff or low cleanliness scores NO longer have significantly higher MRSA rates.
CA-MRSA bacteria commonly carried on the skin around 30% of the general population. CA-MRSA bacteria at any one time and spread through people having close contact with infected or colonised people. People carrying CA-MRSA or HA-MRSA on their skin can inadvertently become infected through the spread of those bacteria into their body or introduced (during procedures) into the bloodstream resulting in "Bacteraemia" and death.
Inadequate hand hygiene by healthcare workers is believed to be an important cause. However, HA-MRSA or CA-MRSA infections can also be caused by “auto-infection”. "Clean your hands campaign" may have loosened the previously observed link between measured environmental cleanliness and MRSA.
CA-MRSA enters a normally sterile blood stream through intravenous cannulae, catheter or a local site (cuts, puncture sites, wounds) of infection. CA-MRSA / HA-MRSA is almost always spread through physical contact, rather than through air or water. To reduce the rate further, it would be sensible to stop using ported cannulae (banned in USA due to high infection rate) and reduce the number of attempts taken to introduce cannulae.
Multiple puncture sites will allow the MRSA to colonize and enter blood circulation resulting in bacteraemia and death.
Please visit and read more at www.safecannula.com
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