Once again, Pennsylvania is at the forefront of MRSA awareness - and this time they have a plan of action! The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System met at the end of last week and made plans to share infection prevention information with 17 other VA hospitals in the region and eventually with VA hospitals across the nation.
Dr. John Jernigan, from the CDC, offers preliminary data that says that “about 90,000 cases of serious MRSA infection occur in the U.S. annually and that they are associated with about 17,000 deaths.” I am glad to see some statistics starting to be gathered on this - the final figures will be even more shocking, I think.
The effort is “setting the stage” for the private health care sector to get more involved in MRSA prevention, said Dr. Rajiv Jain, VA Pittsburgh’s chief of staff and the project’s national director.
To control the spread of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the 17 hospitals are expected to use techniques similar to those that have been successful at VA Pittsburgh, including nasal swabs to test patients for the bacteria. Patients with MRSA typically are isolated to prevent the spread of the pathogen, which can cause serious surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections and pneumonia. Source
Awareness, HA MRSA, Infection Prevention, MRSA in the U.S., Pennsylvania .gif)
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MRSA Notes » PHC4 Releases 2004 MRSA Statistics // Aug 29, 2006 at 9:28 pm
[...] As I reported last week, Pennsylvania is at the forefront of MRSA awareness, and this week is no exception. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) has been gathering statistics about MRSA in its hospitals with the intention of improving the quality of health care and reducing the associated costs in its state. You can read the report in its entirety at the PHC4 web site. [...]
Jane // Oct 19, 2006 at 4:29 am
NE PA MRSA: It’s here….. I got it at work. In a hospital. I have been sick off an on with boils, surgery, and rash, fever, for one year. I worked with patients who had MRSA. I used precautions and “somehow” still contracted the strain. My nursing career is done and I guess; my life along with it….
NVQ Care // Oct 18, 2008 at 2:37 pm
People need more training in how to handle the dreaded MRSA. More care should be taken.
Linda // Oct 19, 2008 at 11:38 am
I got it while working at the VA Hosp. and OMG the boils, the fevers, fatigue, excruciating pain/itchy rashes. I would SLEEP for 16-18 hrs. per day! I had it in my blood stream and was weakened for a year…..Had to have surgery and home care wound care and antibiotics. VA denied my request to pay the bills or my time off of work. They wanted me to work there with MRSA? After me, they wised up, and opened up a special MRSA unit. Lot of good that did me. I will never be the same. Since it’s in my medical records and many found out that I had it so bad…..I feel like I am Thyphoid Mary (MRSA LINDA) I want to be compensated from the VA as this is a work related serious injury like non-other. I was the first VA-MRSA case in NE PA to complain. They had no CLUE what to do for me or how to classify my illness for WC. Other nursing personnel also got it after me……at the same VA. I wonder what happened with them.
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