Threat increasing from deadly superbug.

• Position: MRSA - Brief article

The community-associated strain of the deadly superbug MRSA--an infection-causing bacteria resistant to most common antibiotics--poses a far greater health threat than previously thought and is making its way into hospitals, according to a study in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The new threat is picked up easily in fitness centers, schools, and other public places and has increased the overall burden of MRSA within hospitals, the report found.

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The study, which analyzed data from microbiology labs serving hospitals all over the U.S., uncovered a sevenfold increase in the proportion of "community-associated" strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in outpatient hospital units in recent years. According to the study authors, this increase threatens patient safety because doctors and patients often move back and forth between inpatient and outpatient units of a hospital.

"This emerging epidemic of commune-associated MRSA strains appears to add to the already high MRSA burden in hospitals," says Ramanan Laxminarayan, principal investigator for Extending the Cure, a...