More States Require Hospitals To Test For MRSA
States are sometimes called the "laboratories of democracy" for trying new ideas long before they are commonly accepted. At least five states --California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Tennessee --are now requiring hospitals to test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and report infection rates.
Legislatures in New York, Nevada, Kentucky, South Carolina, Massachusetts Maine, and Washington State are considering it. At the federal level, Veterans Administration hospitals require MRSA testing.
MRSA infects 90,000 Americans each year and kills an estimated 19,000; more than AIDS.
One MRSA victim, Jeanine Thomas, who successfully lobbied for the new requirement on Illinois hospitals, believes that the testing and isolation of the infected will eventually wipe out the Superbug.
Many infectious disease experts, however, do not agree. All sorts of germs infect 1.7 million Americans in hospitals each year and killing 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
CDC lists testing upon entry to a hospital as an option, but says there is no evidence it is better than the combination of methods used by most hospitals. These include wearing gloves, gowns, and other protective gear, hand washing, and proper use of antibiotics.
I cam across this interesting article that covers an ground breaking DNA based test for MRSA that takes only 15 mins to run... rather than the more normal 24hr lab tests
http://www.twistdx.co.uk/in-the-news/page_41.html