Flu and MRSA make a deadly combo
Flu and MRSA make a deadly combo
Initial therapy did not cover MRSA in some cases
A disturbing number of cases of pneumonia caused by staph infections resulted in death among young, otherwise healthy patients during the 2006-2007 flu season, with more than three-quarters caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), researchers found.1
"Staph-caused pneumonia in the nonhospitalized population is rare to begin with, especially in otherwise healthy, young people, but the amount caused by MRSA was particularly striking," says lead study author Alexander J. Kallen, MD, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "More than three-quarters (79%) of the staph-caused pneumonia patients were infected with MRSA. Many of the MRSA patients were not treated up front for MRSA, which suggests that doctors did not initially suspect this organism in these patients."
In early 2007, federal and state public health officials began to receive reports from health departments of severe staph-caused pneumonia. Many appeared to involve MRSA and were fatal. Of the 47 staph-caused pneumonia patients for whom researchers had a complete record, 24 died. Thirteen of the 24 were 18 years old or younger and 44% had no known pertinent medical history. Patients who had had the flu were about twice as likely to die from the staph-caused pneumonia as those who had not. The average time between symptom onset and death was four days. "The important public health message is twofold: Anyone who wants to decrease their chances of getting the flu and its complications like staph pneumonia should get a flu vaccine, and physicians should be alert to the possibility of MRSA causing severe pneumonia in outpatients and treat it accordingly," Kallen says.
The 2007-2008 flu season is undergoing a similar study.
Reference
- Kallen AK. Brunkard J, Moore Z, et al. Staphylococcus aureus community-acquired pneumonia during the 2006 to 2007 Influenza Season. Ann Emerg Med (published online) 05 June 2008, at: www.annemergmed.com.
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