MRSA in Sweden: a quarter of cases infected abroad
A quarter of people with MRSA in Sweden between 2000 and 2003 were infected abroad. A study published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases opened reveals that the number of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Sweden nearly doubled between 2000 and 2003. The study also shows that 25% of cases were from abroad. This highlights the threat of international transmission of MRSA in countries where the incidence of MRSA is still relatively low.Mikael Stenhem, the Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden, and colleagues from Sweden through the institutions collected data on MRSA infections across the country since 2000 - the year in which MRSA has become a disease that must be reported and recorded - in 2003. Their results show that the number of people infectedwith MRSA has steadily increased between 2000 and 2003, rising from 325 cases in 2000-544 in 2003 cases. A total of 1,733 cases were reported during this period, 433 who were infected abroad.
---------------------------- Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
BMC Infectious Diseases (in press) Contact: Juliette Juliette Savin.