Drug-resistant Staph killed 2,300 Canadians in 2006

From CTV News:
An estimated 2,300 Canadians died in 2006 after contracting antibiotic resistant Staph bacteria, costing the national heath-care system between $200 million and $250 million that year, new figures suggest.

The figures, based on data gathered from a national surveillance program undertaken in 48 Canadian hospitals, indicate doctors saw 29,000 new patients carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria on their skin or nostrils in 2006.

Of those, 11,700 contracted new MRSA infections.

MRSA, one of the strongest drug-resistant bacteria currently known, can live on human skin without causing infection. However, if it gains entry to the body through a cut or wound, it can cause serious illness and death, according to the Mayo Clinic's website. ...more

MRSA superbug a bigger killer than AIDS

From News-Medical.net (Aus.):
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States says MRSA infections (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are more prevalent and invasive than previously thought.

In the CDC's first overall estimate of the invasive disease it is estimated that more than 94,000 Americans are infected by the super bug MRSA

MRSA is carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people and has now escaped the hospital setting and is in the wider community.

Staph infections, including MRSA, usually start as small red bumps that look like pimples, boils or spider bites; these can quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. ...more