Hospital spreads word on bacteria

WARWICK —It’s called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the danger from the highly resistant bacteria is present in every community. On Sept. 13, Dr. Robert Dittmeier, medical director for St. Anthony Community Hospital’s Emergency Department, lectured an audience of local Emergency Medical Service Providers on the dangers, safeguards and prevention of MRSA, a type of staphylococcus that is resistant to antibiotics. Infection from MRSA occurs most frequently among persons in hospitals and health care facilities, such as nursing homes, who have weakened immune systems. But a Community Associated strain (CA-MRSA) of infections can also be acquired by persons who have not recently been hospitalized or had a medical procedure. CA-MRSA most often appears as a skin or soft tissue infection such as a boil or abscess. The involved site is red, swollen, and painful and may have pus or other drainage. And “staph” infections also can cause more serious problems, such as blood stream infections or pneumonia. During his lecture, Dittmeier explained that EMS health care providers not only have to be concerned about those transported patients with a documented history of MRSA but also any patient with risk factors. Infection control measures, he suggested, include effective hand hygiene and contact precautions such as wearing gloves. “Hand hygiene,” he said, ”is the most important strategy in preventing MRSA transmission.” As part of St. Anthony Community Hospital Emergency Department’s commitment to community outreach and education, the hospital has been sponsoring a series of lectures designed to meet the educational needs of local Emergency Medical Services health care providers.