MRSA Notes

I have been fearful of an MRSA outbreak from the New Orleans victims of Hurricane Katrina, but haven’t seen too much about it yet. This article from MSNBC mentions several deaths from vibrio bacteria, which is something I am not familiar with at all, other than having heard of it. Here is the mention of MRSA from the article:

The CDC says 19 people have become ill from Vibrio bacterial infections and five have died in the region after Katrina. Three have died from Vibrio vulnificus and two from Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the CDC said.

Both organisms are common in Gulf waters and usually only sicken people who already have immune weaknesses.

One hospital, East Jefferson General Hospital, is reporting cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial infection that resists many antibiotics and can be hard to treat. But Weiss said MRSA, usually seen as a skin infection, has become common in many places.

Let’s all pray that the infection rate from the Hurricane aftermath is nothing like it could be.

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