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Scientists have been aware that antibiotic resistance to bacteria has been increasing but the latest data released from Princeton university study reveal that cases of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (t) have increased by an astounding 90% in the last decade. More over these resistant bacteria are now found commonly outside the hospital. Analysis of the MRSA circulating outside health care facilities reveal that it is different from the strains that occurs in hospitals.

Says Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan of Princeton University, N.J., “We found during 1999-2006 that the percentage of S. aureus infections resistant to methicillin increased more than 90 percent, or 10 percent a year, in outpatients admitted to U.S. hospitals.

He further added, “This increase was caused almost entirely by community-acquired MRSA strains, which increased more than 33 percent annually.”

MRSA first started to appear in hospitals 15 years ago and today is a common organism in the majority of US hospitals, especially in intensive care and critical care units. A decade ago, only a few isolated people were found to have MRSA in the community but it was not clear if these people were adding to the hospital strain or vice versa.

Says Dr Ramanan, “Our findings have implications for local and national policies aimed at containing and preventing MRSA.”

Testing for MRSA is a tedious process and thus, there is an urgent need for a better, faster and more sensitive test so that patients can be quickly diagnosed and treated. MRSA is treatable but the diagnosis has to be confirmed.

“Lastly, infection control policies should take into account the role that outpatients likely play in the spread of MRSA and promote interventions that could prevent spread of MRSA from outpatient areas to inpatient areas,” added the researcher.

Today MRSA is one the most common organism associated with hospital acquired infections. Various studies have shown that the organism can easily be acquired in community centers, schools, fitness centers and in places where people congregate.

While community MRSA is generally asymptomatic, in-patients may develop a range of infections including sepsis.

Current numbers from the CDC indicate that at least 20,000 people in the USA die from MRSA related infections. The treatment of an MRSA infection ranges from $3,000-$35,000 per patient.