MRSA - In the News Every Day

Sandy Schilling — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:45:00 GMT

It's everywhere - jails, prisons, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, gyms... Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). An article in the Sacramento Bee, Folsom Prison Staph Infection Brings Fines, relates how the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety has fined California's prison system for failing to investigate and report infections. Another article, MRSA Infects Jail Inmates, Officers, shows a continuing problem with MRSA in the Niagara, New York, area. These agencies are not unique - MRSA is affecting all our facilities. Are you doing everything you can to prevent outbreaks in your facility and protect your staff and inmates? It's important to provide training, screening, diagnosis, reporting, and infection management. Be fastidious with cleanliness and sanitation, and encourage everyone to "wash those hands!" The National Institute of Corrections Information Center has many resources available on MRSA, including training videos from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, "MRSA Awareness," and the New Jersey Department of Corrections "MRSA: Preventing Outbreaks in NJ Prisons" and MRSA: What You Need to Know."

It's Probably Not a Spider Bite

Sandy Schilling — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:51:00 GMT

Suspect Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA). A few years ago, I received a call asking about spider bites in jails. I didn't know about MRSA then, but now I realize it is sometimes originally mistaken as "spider bites". According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, "MRSA is the most common identifiable cause of skinand soft-tissue infections among patients presenting to emergencydepartments in 11 U.S. cities." This has become such a prevelant issue that the National Institute of Corrections has information and resources relating to the treatment and containment of MRSA. For your health care personnel, The Federal Bureau of Prisons has Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureaus (MRSA) Infections.

Today's Jails : health services

MRSA - In the News Every Day

It's Probably Not a Spider Bite