Community-associated MRSA colonization associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality

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Community-associated MRSA colonization has been associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality in middle-aged and older adults, as survey data shows.

Antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA kill 35,000 Americans each year. Bow G. main thing III, PhD, a professor of health administration at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine told Healio Primary Care. Most commonly, this occurs through skin-to-skin contact with, or sharing, a person who has an MRSA colonization or infection Objects such as towels. People who inject drugs are also at high risk for MRSA infection.

Reference: Mainous AG, et al. J Am Board Fam. Med. 2021; doi: 10.3122 / jabfm.2021.02.200394.

“Millions of people are colonized with MRSA and don’t know it,” he said. “It was unclear what kind of downstream health risk is associated with the transmission of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

MRSA infections have been linked to significant morbidity and mortality, according to the researchers, but previous studies looking for an increased risk of death related to MRSA colonization showed mixed results.

Arch G. Mainous III

Mainous and colleagues analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2004, which was linked to the National Death Index through December 31, 2015. The study included 118,718,486 adults aged 40 to 85 years, most of whom were white. The adults were followed for up to 11 years.

The researchers reported that 1.5% (95% CI, 1.1% -2%) of the population was colonized by MRSA. The 11-year mortality rate was 35.9% (95% CI, 25.4% -46.4%) in those with MRSA colonization and 17.8% (95% CI, 16.4-19, 2%) among non-colonized adults. The adjusted HR for mortality in MRSA-colonized adults was 1.75 (95% CI 1.12-2.73).

However, colonization with Staphylococcus aureus in general was not associated with increased mortality, which is consistent with previous results, the researchers wrote.

Mainous said that at the hospital, decolonization and patient contact arrangements have helped control MRSA successfully, but those in the community “who do not know they are colonized are worrying because if the risk is not recognized, there are there is little “what we can do for prevention.”

“Examining the benefits of decolonization in the community would be a logical next step in our understanding of prevention,” he added.

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