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Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Thorough washing of hands by nurses and doctors, the use of local, national, and international microbiological surveillance systems by hospitals, the quick diagnosis and cure using antibiotics...these are all some of the most important devices in reducing at least 30% of the cases of MRSA infections. MRSA is a bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics, one of the most feared diseases caused in hospitals throughout the world. In Europe alone, nearly 50,000 people die from the disease every year.
Numerous studies have shown that nearly 30% of hospital infections are transmitted through the hands of doctors and nurses and that the correct application of protocol in washing hands leads to a significant reduction in MRSA infections in hospitals.
This is what came out in a recent document from the “Consensus Conference” promoted by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) under the leadership of Roberto Cauda, Director of the Clinical Institute for Infectious Diseases at the Catholic University Polyclinic “Agostino Gemelli” in Rome and Javier Garau of the Department for Internal Medicine at the Hospital Mútua de Terrassa, of the University of Barcelona. The experts have defined the criteria for a rapid and correct antibiotic therapy, which is key to reducing the mortality rate of the MRSA infections. An insufficient therapy, in fact, has been seen as the cause in the increase of MRSA complications and mortality.
The Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for nearly 3,000,000 infections that can be acquired during hospital recovery with a high mortality rate and is between 15-30% of the infections. The first case of MRSA was found in a British hospital in 1961, and later spread throughout the world. In Europe, MRSA is fairly varied among the different countries. Data reports an average rate of infections in Italy at 58%, in Portugal at 54%, and in Switzerland and Holland at 2%. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 22/5/2009)
