Infectious disease experts are seeing staph infections that do not back down to penicillin and other frontline drugs. We’re talking about flesh-eating bacteria that can cause significant damage and even death. One statistics states, "…nearly 19,000 Americans died in 2005 of invasive infections caused by drug-resistant staphylococcus bacteria – more than were killed by AIDS." Staph is affecting healthy kids, athletes, and other low-risk populations, which has the experts puzzled. These "super bugs" are rearing their ugly heads outside of healthcare settings more often than in the past. At Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, only 10 cases per year were documented as community acquired in the 1990s. In 2003, doctors at the hospital found 459 cases.Staph has caused deadly pneumonia during flu season in some patients.
Tests for staph infections are pricey, and not all ER and general doctors are aware of the situation, according to an MSNBC article. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a research report that states, "Invasive MRSA infection affects certain populations disproportionately. It is a major public health problem primarily related to health care but no longer confined to intensive care units, acute care hospitals, or any health care institution."
What does this mean to you and your staff? In dentistry, you contact many patients each day. Being aware of serious public health issues, like staph "super bugs," can help you help your patients and your team. If a patient complains of complications with a seemingly insignificant injury, recommend that they see their primary physician immediately. Small abrasions can incur staph infection and quickly escalate to cause significant damage to tissues and, in some cases, overall health. Keep in mind, many of the people who get small abrasions are children and athletes. Furthermore, while you and your team already adhere to CDC and OSHA guidelines for sterilization and infection control, knowing that serious staph infections are on the rise should make protocols seem that more essential.
*Quote Source: Dr. John Segreti, infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, estimates that one in ten patients die from staph infections.