Hospitalizations related to a potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant “superbug” more than doubled between 1999 and 2005, soaring from 127,000 to nearly 280,000, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Florida researcher.
The study, which appeared in the December issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, is the first to examine the recent magnitude and trends related to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infections. It also found that hospitalizations of patients with general staph infections increased 62 percent across the country.
Staph, or Staphylococcus aureus, are a kind of bacteria that infect wounds and cause life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning and pneumonia. MRSA are “superbugs” that have evolved resistance to most commonly used antibiotics, so they are more difficult and expensive to treat.
The study concluded that MRSA and staph infections are now “endemic, and in some cases epidemic” in many U.S. hospitals, long-term care facilities and communities.
“We were the first ones to actually look at trends in MRSA and staph hospitalizations,” said David Smith, a UF faculty member who has a dual appointment in zoology and UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute. “MRSA is out of control. Our numbers suggest that staph and MRSA infections should become a national research and public health priority. ”
The study found that the pattern of infection is changing. The researchers saw dramatic increases in the rate of minor skin and soft tissue infections caused by staph and MRSA that are commonly spread outside hospital walls. At the same time, there was no trend in the number of deaths from hospitalassociated staph or MRSA infections.
In all likelihood, the researchers say, MRSA infections are spreading in both hospitals and communities, complicating efforts to prevent infections in hospital patients. Hospital-acquired infections from all causes result in an estimated 90,000 deaths per year and are the sixth-leading cause of death nationally. They also increase patient suffering and the length of time patients spend in the hospital — in addition to direct health care costs, estimated to be more than $6 billion annually.
“At a national level, the rising tide of antibiotic resistance that we are seeing raises concerns about our ability to effectively treat serious bacterial infections,” said Dr. J. Glenn Morris Jr., professor and director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute and an expert on hospital infections. “Research on antibiotic resistance, and on development of therapies to treat antibiotic-resistant infections, should clearly be a national priority.”
Antibiotic-resistant infections impose even greater costs. Several studies have estimated that antibiotic-resistant infections increase direct costs by 30 percent to 100 percent. MRSA-specific studies suggest that the additional cost of treating an antibiotic-resistant staph infection versus an antibiotic-sensitive infection ranges from a minimum of $3,000 to more than $35,000 per case. This suggests that such infections cost the health care system an extra $830 million to $9.7 billion in 2005, even without taking into account indirect costs related to patient pain, illness and time spent in the hospital.
Funding for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio, which supports innovative ideas that may lead to breakthroughs in the future of health and health care.