Oct 28, 2008 5:33 pm US/Eastern
2 Strains Of MRSA Create Tougher Bug
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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There are new warnings about a growing health risk. Two strains of drug resistant staph are swapping genetic material, creating an even tougher bug.
AP
There are new warnings about a growing health risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report two strains of drug resistant staph are swapping genetic material, creating an even tougher bug.
As
Alex DeMetrick reports, both strains are hard enough to fight separately. Together, they're even more difficult.
There is more than one strain of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. But they share a common trait.
"They're just nasty. It's what I call bad bugs," said Dr. Harold Standiford, University of Maryland Medical Center.
Dr. Standiford is in charge of infection control at the University of Maryland Medical Center. That used to mean battling drug resistant MRSA infections caused by bacteria in the hospital. But now a new front has opened.
In the past few years, college and high school football teams have developed infections from a strain called community MRSA.
Now, common MRSA is being carried into the hospitals, where it is mixing with the stronger, more drug resistant strain.
The best defense is the simplest: hand washing by doctors, nurses and visitors.
Because staph lives in the nose, nasal swabs are being used in a quick test for bacteria. If it's found, gowns, gloves and isolation are used, along with the strongest of antibiotics.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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