staph infections news stories on Newser

Dangerous Staph Germs Found at US Beaches

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:37:50 CDT

Dangerous staph bacteria have been found in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches along the coast of Washington, and scientists think the state is not the only one with this problem. The germ is MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—a hard-to-treat bug once rarely seen...

Super-Acne Resists Drugs

Amelia Atlas — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:15:02 CDT

As if regular old zits weren't bad enough, awkward teens now have a new worst nightmare: antibiotic-resistant super-acne. Dermatologists say the bacteria that causes pimples is increasingly immune to common treatments, reports MSNBC. And while acne may not be a life-threatening condition, the frequent prescription of antibiotics to treat it...

New Superbug Highlights Poor Hospital Hygiene

Nick McMaster — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:25:45 CDT

A deadly new superbug—beefed up by the over-prescription of antibiotics and spread by dirty hospitals and nursing homes—is raising concern in the medical community, MSNBC reports. The so-called C. diff is a mutated form of a benign bug typically transmitted in unsanitary medical facilities, especially bathrooms. Cases are...

Doctors Fear Flu-Superbug Combo

Kevin Spak — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:51:58 CDT

Doctors nationwide took notice yesterday when two Boston kids died of a combined flu and fatal superbug—an increasingly common mix, ABC News reports. The blend of influenza and the staph infection MRSA killed 22 people last year, a huge jump from three cases the year before. Now, doctors fear...

Screening Isn't Slowing Staph: Study

Laurel Jorgensen — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:09:00 CDT

Widespread screening of hospital patients for the drug-resistant staph bacteria MRSA doesn’t appear to reduce the number of infections, a new study finds. Swiss researchers screened more than 10,000 patients for the superbug when they were admitted to the University of Geneva Hospitals. Another 10,000 weren’t tested. The...

Superbug Strikes Gay Men

Rob Quinn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:54:07 CST

A new strain of the "flesh-eating" bacteria MRSA is spreading rapidly among gay men in Boston and San Francisco and there are warnings it could extend to a larger population, the New York Times reports. The drug-resistant strain seems to be spreading largely by sexual contact, but it can also...

Staph Strain Explodes Immune Cells

Colleen Barry — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:30:50 CST

A key reason why a powerful strain of drug-resistant staph infections known as MRSA has proven so deadly is because it produces a compound that causes immune cells to explode, a new study in Nature concludes. The finding helps explain why MRSA, usually found in hospitals in patients with weakened...

Hospitals Ramp Up Screening for Superbug

Sam Gale Rosen — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:16:56 CDT

Four hospitals in the Chicago area will start screening all patients for drug-resistant "superbug" bacteria, the Chicago Tribune reports. The intensive screening is known as "search and destroy" in Europe, but it is uncommon in the US. The moves comes as hospitals around the nation evaluate safety procedures in the...

Superbug Shuts Down Entire School District

Jane Yager — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 06:31:39 CDT

A single confirmed infection of antibiotic-resistant staph has convinced officials to shut down all 23 schools of an eastern Kentucky district so cleaners can scour classrooms, cafeterias, locker rooms, buses and playgrounds. The district superintendent called the massive disinfection a "preventive measure" to ward off a large-scale outbreak of the...