UCSF Study Shows Sharp National Rise in Skin Infections, MRSA Suspected

“This is certainly a cause for increased awareness among clinicians and the public nationwide, but it is not cause for alarm,” said Erica Pan, MD, MPH, a UCSF assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases and a medical epidemiologist at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Pan was not involved in this study, but works frequently with the UCSF team on MRSA research.

“A simple way to avoid these and many other infections is to practice good hygiene habits, such as routine handwashing with soap and water, as well as by covering open cuts and wounds when participating in sports or other activities involving skin-to-skin contact with other people,” she said. “If you notice that you or your child has a skin infection that does not seem to get better on its own after a few days, consult a medical provider.”

The study also found a shift in prescribing practices among physicians seeing these patients. The number of prescriptions written for medications effective against MRSA infections more than tripled over the study period. At the start of the study, less than 8 percent of antibiotics prescribed nationwide for skin infections were those effective for MRSA infections. By 2005, 28 percent were in that category.

“We had anticipated seeing a rise in office visits for abscesses due to the emergence of community-acquired MRSA, but we were somewhat surprised by the rapid changes in antibiotic prescribing,” Hersh said. “It is evidence of growing awareness of community-acquired MRSA nationwide among physicians.”

Hersh acknowledged that the data, which is the most recent available, is too old to show what is happening right now, or even last month, but does confirm that the emergence of community-acquired MRSA in the 1990s led to a rapid increase in the number of patients with skin and soft tissue infections nationwide.

It also raises opportunities for further research, including determining the risk factors for developing an abscess and how best to care for patients with recurrent infections, he said.

Ralph Gonzales, MD, MSPH, a professor in the UCSF departments of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics, is the senior author on the paper. It was co-authored by Judith H. Maselli, MSPH, also with UCSF.

The research was supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The San Francisco Department of Public health has further information on preventing MRSA infections and “Frequently Asked Questions” on its Web site at www.mrsasf.org.

Source: UCSF