MRSA Notes

Marin Independent Journal - News - Marin
Dr. David Witt, an infectious disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, says the bacteria appeared out of nowhere about five years ago and has been sweeping the nation. Marin residents have been diagnosed with it with increased regularity over the past 18 months, Witt said.

“It has dramatically increased in frequency across the country,” he said.

Dr. Morgan Camp, who treats patients at Sutter Health’s Urgent Care facility in Terra Linda, said he treats an average of one or two patients a day who have contracted it.

“Sometimes, there are three or four,” Camp said.

The bacteria’s name, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA for short, is bit of a misnomer. MRSA is also resistant to other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Witt says 30 percent of all staph infections in the United States are now MRSA strains.

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