Texas Issues New Guidelines For Preventing Staph Infections

DALLAS, TX. (AP)- The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued new guidelines for preventing staph infections as the public becomes more concerned about drug-resistant cases that can turn deadly.

Many of the guidelines released Wednesday focus on common-sense hygienic practices to reduce spread of the bacteria in places like high school athletic departments, child-care facilities, dormitories, gyms and spas.

“Regular hand washing is the most important means of preventing staph transmission,” the guidelines said. A report released Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph “superbug,” resulting in about 18,500 deaths.

Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections, but in the worst cases it can enter the bloodstream, destroy flesh and cause death. In recent years, the resistant germ has become more common in hospitals and it has been spreading through prisons, gyms and locker rooms, and in poor urban neighborhoods.

Texas health officials believe they’re seeing more cases of the drug-resistant bug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. But the state does not require the reporting of such staph infections to state or local health authorities.

“So it’s essentially impossible to quantify the number of people who’ve been infected and treated by private physicians,” said Dr. John Carlo, medical director of the Dallas County health department.

“It’s on everybody’s radar screen today,” he said. “But we just can’t get our hands on how severe this problem is.” Marilyn Felkner, epidemiologist for the state health department, said the guidelines were issued coincidentally to the CDC report.

The department had been working on the new guidelines for release during this week’s recognition of “infection-prevention week,” she said. “A strain of bacteria has been evolving in the community over the years that is resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics, but it’s finally getting people’s attention,” she said.