The number of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections stemming from health care-related sources declined between 2005 and 2008, according to research released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Using data from nine metropolitan areas, researchers found 82 percent of MRSA cases were health care-related, but the overall number of infections decreased significantly. Incidence of hospital-onset MRSA declined 28 percent, while incidence of health care-related community-onset infections declined 17 percent over the course of the study.
Increasing awareness of MRSA risk caused many hospitals and health care centers to establish MRSA prevention programs in recent years, which researchers believe may have had a bearing on the declining number of infections.
The study was published in the Aug. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
