Health & Welfare | Daily Report

For years, MRSA bacterial infections were chiefly the bane of nursing homes. Then the so-called “superbug” moved into hospitals, infecting 1 out of every 6 patients in 2001.

Now, California researchers have identified several new fronts: homes, playgrounds, gyms and schools. See how this trend has played out in this roll-over map charting the changes in California counties.

The number of residents showing up at hospitals with "community-acquired," antibiotic-resistant staph infections has soared and shows no signs of going down, according to a research brief by the state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

The report shows that the number of MRSA cases quadrupled from just over 7,200 cases in 1999 to nearly 39,000 in 2007. Over that time, though, the percent of people who died with the infection fell in half, from about 16 percent to 8 percent.

Another trend: The number of young people, those under 18, saw a 16-fold increase in infections by 2007. The number of infected kids that year was 3,315 though, just a fraction of the total.

The increases have left researchers concerned and searching for answers.

“These numbers – it looks like we’re looking at something different,” said Mary Tran, a research scientist for OSHPD.

Dr. Jon Rosenberg, an infection expert with the state Department of Public Health, agreed that the numbers are concerning. He said California is seeing higher rates of infection than other states, and a virulent form of MRSA is spreading, researchers believe, by physical contact with the bacteria.

“[Staph] does not want to kill us, but it does want to multiply,” Rosenberg said. “The bottom line is that when staph multiplies, it’s causing puss.”

He said contact with the puss spreads infections, which tend to crop up in higher numbers during the summer.

The infections are particularly devastating to patients with diabetes, who account for roughly 20 percent of those who die after contracting MRSA, according to a Department of Public Health analysis of severe cases.

Avoiding the infections – a topic Rosenberg has written about here – involves a lot of hand washing. And parents of kids who get a scrape or cut – and adults with them – need to wash the wound with soap and water and monitor whether it’s healing. If a wound begins to resemble a boil larger than a pimple, it could be time to call a doctor, Rosenberg said.

He said there is a need for more public education on the matter, but little funding for the effort.

Researchers are exploring new ways to kill the bug that will likely be reserved for those most vulnerable to an infection. Rosenberg urges caution to anyone who’d suggest wiping out the bacteria that often live trouble-free in our noses, throats and other dark, damp parts of the body.

“No one’s shown we need staph in our nose or on our skin,” he said. “But no one knows what will move into our noses if we get rid of the staph.”