Incidence of MRSA Higher in the U.S. Than in England

Researchers from the Emerging Infections Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and from the Health Protection Agency in England report on their comparison of the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infection (BSI) in the United States and England using population-based surveillance. Their research was published in the October issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Lessa, et al. (2010) say that the incidence of community-onset MRSA BSI was 6.3-fold higher in the United States than in England, whereas the incidence of hospital-onset MRSA BSI was similar between the two countries.

Reference: Lessa FC, Mu Y, Davies J, Murray M, Lillie M, Pearson A and Fridkin SK. Comparison of Incidence of Bloodstream infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus between England and United States, 20062007. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2010;51:925928