MRSA Guidelines Released

The Infectious Diseases Society of America just issued its first set of comprehensive guidelines for treating methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is often seen in nursing homes. 

Guidelines were developed for clinicians who treat adults and pediatric patients with MRSA infections. They detail methods for treating and preventing infections, including topics such as personal hygiene, wound care, antibiotic therapy and other options in the event of vancomycin (a powerful antibiotic) failure, Internal Medicine News reported. They also address increasingly common MRSA-related skin and soft-tissue infections.

The guidance offer recommendations for community- and hospital-based infections, as well as how to tre

at minor and severe cases. As doctors are starting to see many more cases of skin and soft-tissue cases of MRSA, the guidelines offer more specifics on which antibiotics to use, and when. MRSA infect

ions now account for 60% of the skin

infections presented to emergency rooms. MRSA infections also result in 18,000 deaths per year, according to the magazine. The guidelines will be published in the Feb. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.