MRSA: From a nosocomial pathogen to an omnipresent source of infection

In German hospitals, each year 132 000 patients contract infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). For more than a decade, different countries have reported an increasing incidence of MRSA infections in the general population ("community associated" [CA-] MRSA). In the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Robin Köck from the Münster University Hospital and coauthors provide an overview of the epidemiological situation with regard to MRSA in Germany. They present the status quo in institutions within the healthcare sector, but also potential transmission routes in the general population (Dtsch Arztbl Int 2011; 108[45]: 761-7). (PDF) Eurekalert!