¶ … infection trajectory Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The paper introduces the development of the bacterium in its most common iterations. The nature of the infection including symptoms, treatment options which are limited, and efforts from the health community are evaluated. Of particular importance is the portion concerning the differences between the communities-based version and the nosocomial version.
Introduction of Evolutionary History of MRSA
Nature of Infection
Diagnosis, Symptoms & Progression of an MRSA Infection
Rates of MRSA Infections in the U.S.A.
MRSA Treatment Strategies and Regimens: Prevention and Control
Economic Implications of MRSA Infections
Bibliography
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium. It usually lives on the skin and nose of human beings without leading to health problems. It becomes a problem when the bacterium causes an infection in the "skin, lungs, or blood" (Zeller 2011, p.1828). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a staph infection which is resistant to the methicillin family of antibiotics including common ones such as penicillin (CDC, 2012). It is often identified as being among the leading causes of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections (Enright, et. al, 2002). The National Healthcare Safety Report (NHSR) by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the rates for nosocomial infections are falling. However, the MRSA infections continue to pose problems in communities where the rates of MRSA in the communities are rapidly increasing (CDC, NHSR, 2012).
This paper traces the history, development, current statistics, and treatment plans related with MRSA infections whether they occur in the health sector or at large in the wider community. In the first section the evolutionary history of MRSA is introduced. Sections II and III discuss the rates of infection in the U.S. And the symptoms and complications associated with MRSA infections. Section IV details the existing treatment plans for an individual with an infection. In section V, the ongoing efforts by epidemiologists, the CDC, and numerous health care professionals to decrease the rates of infection are discussed. Finally in section VI the economic implications of MRSA are explored.
I: Introduction of Evolutionary History of MRSA
In 1929 a scientist by the name of Fleming discovered penicillin, and it was immediately put to use in fighting Staphylococcus aureaus (SA) (Barnes & Sampson 2010. p.23). Within a decade resistant strain of SA began to emerge. Methicillin is an antibiotic; it was used to heal Staph infections which had become resistant to the other primary antibiotic of the times, penicillin (Enright 2002, p.7678). Within two years the first report that a strain of the Staphylococcus aureus had "acquired resistance to methicillin" was reported in England (Enright 2002, p. 7678). Soon thereafter similar strains of the MRSA were identified across Western Europe and in the United States Id. Of particular note, methicillin resistance was found in both the hospital version and the community based infection.
The prevalence and ubiquity of MRSA is now global: it poses a significant and often intractable problem for health professionals across the world. In their review of the development of MRSA isolates emergence in different countries, Enright et.al, reviewed bacteria samples collected over the course of 38 years and representing 20 nations to conduct their analysis. The worrisome part of their genetic explorations is the fact that many of the MRSA isolates are "only distantly related to each other, this poses significant problems for the treatment of MRSA (Enright, 2002, p.7689). In the United States the first reported incident of MRSA of the hospital variety occurred in 1968, the first community-based strain of MRSA in the U.S. was reported in 1980 (Huang, et. al, 2006, p. 2423).
It is important to note that part of the difficulty of treating and eliminating MRSA is the wide variety of strains which exist, the uncertainty of the relationship between the origins, and it's continually evolving nature. To this end the Enright study focused on the ancestral genotype origins of the most common strand including ST250-which is considered the "original MRSA clone" (Enright, 2002, p.7689). The ST250 is considered the original mutation which evolved with methicillin resistance; the data suggests that the mutations may have developed separately in other words the bacteria acquired methicillin gene while already possessing the staph infection ability Id p. 7691. The authors conclude that the gene which was resistant to methicillin was merely acquired by staph infections "that were already common with hospitals" (Enright 2002, p. 7692). The Enright study conclusions are troubling precisely...
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