How much of a problem is MRSA?
MRSA was first reported in the UK and Europe in the 1960’s and in the USA in 1968. In the UK it is estimated that at least 100,000 hospital acquired infections occur each year. MRSA accounts for 52.3% of S. aureus nosocomial infections in USA, is now endemic in many hospitals, and is one of the leading causes of nosocomial pneumonia and surgical site infection and the second leading cause of nosocomial blood stream infections. MRSA in particular has become a major problem in many UK hospitals. An MRSA support group said that the UK Government’s tally of 5,000 deaths a year comes from statistics compiled in 1994. Their analysis of statistics from official bodies suggests that the real number of annual deaths is closer to 20,000.
