Governments urged to make killer bugs a priority

— -- A killer bacteria known as MRSA has been a growing problem for years, particularly in hospitals and nursing homes. But in a week's time, it has moved to the front burner of public attention, turning a spotlight — and increasing criticism — on the nation's public health system.

A landmark study indicating MRSA kills 18,000 Americans each year, along with reports of outbreaks in schools across the nation and the death of a high school student in Virginia, has renewed calls for more aggressive government action to help prevent the spread of the "super bug" — a bacteria named methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

Patient-safety advocates, government health specialists and local officials acknowledge that the nation has not done enough to halt the rapidly rising death rate from a germ that, despite its resistance to antibiotics, is easy to stop with soap and water before it burrows into the body.

"We have the knowledge to stop this problem," says Betsy McCaughey, chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. "What has been lacking is the will." McCaughey and other health specialists say that slowing the death rates will require action on several fronts, from public health facilities, hospitals, schools and individuals.

"The medical community has to do a lot more to prevent these infections in the first place," says Elizabeth Bancroft, an epidemiologist at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "The public health community has to do a lot more education for patients."

The U.S. government has documented increases in MRSA deaths for 20 years, but McCaughey and other critics say it has not forced the simple changes that would prevent needless deaths.

McCaughey recounts horror stories from families who lost loved ones to the infection because hospitals did not follow cleanliness practices such as mandatory hand washing by doctors and nurses.

She faults the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Their lax guidelines have given hospitals an excuse to do too little," she says. "They have consistently understated the problem and done too little to stop it. Every year of delay is costing thousands of lives and costing billions of dollars."

John Jernigan, an MRSA expert at the CDC, says the agency has "the best MRSA guidelines out there." They call for hospitals and health care facilities to fund prevention programs, track infection rates, teach staff members the best infection-control practices and ensure those are followed.