How pervasive is antibiotic resistance among HAIs?
Infections acquired in hospitals are becoming more virulent and more resistant to the antibiotics typically used to fight them. One of the deadliest types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as MRSA. The percentage of Staph infections that are resistant to antibiotics has risen from 22 percent in 1997 to over 60 percent in 2007. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that MRSA kills approximately 19,000 people per year. Prevalence of other multidrug-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs”, is also increasing, including that of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) which, in 1997, was found in approximately 15 percent of hospital patients (up from less than 1 percent in 1990). Clostridium difficile (C. diff), another dangerous superbug, is also on the rise; CDC estimates there are 500,000 cases annually in the U.S., up from 150,000 cases in 2001.
