Does anyone else think this national outbreak of MRSA staph infections might be terrorism?

No. First off, this isn't really a new outbreak. MRSA has been widespread and around for a long time. Ask any infectious disease physician or nurse. One of the main reasons that this is getting so much media attention is a new article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which estimates the number of deaths caused by MRSA is higher than previously thought. The article estimates that more 18,000 people died from MRSA in 2005. This is more than the number of people who died from AIDS. So the media gets a great headline that reads "More people die from Superbug than AIDS".

I highly doubt it. I'm a nurse. I see MRSA all the time. It's been with us for quite a while and it's my opinion that it's just something that the media is focusing on right now. My son, a Marine, even had it while living in close quarters with other Marines in a house they had right here in the states. Guys will be guys. But it CAN BE very dangerous if not caught and treated quickly, or it shows up in someone who has a compromised immune system.

According to infectious disease specialists, MRSA has come about because of our over-reliance on antibiotics. For decades we, as a society, have run to our doctors whenever we've had a cold, and they have been only too happy to write prescriptions for those colds!

Antibiotics are completely useless against viruses, and colds are caused by viruses. But people think they "need" a presecription whenever they are sick, so to keep them quiet, doctors have routinely written a prescription for an antibiotic, "just in case".

The next step in the equation is that people almost NEVER finish their entire round of antibiotics! Even if you are taking antibiotics for a legitimate reason, if you do NOT finish ALL of the antibiotic, you are allowing SOME of the bacteria to survive and therefore breeding "superbugs" that become immune to the antibiotics being used.

This is what has happened in the case of MRSA, or Methcillin Resistant Staphyloccocus Aureaus. So, NO, it is NOT a terrorist plot..it is our own stupidity.

no mrsa has been around for quite some time but due to all the antibiotics in use not just in our meat but also everyone expecting the doctors to prescribe them even when they arent needed it has caused it to be resistant to most antibiotics. This I blame on the doctors more than anyone else. I work in a hospital and to this day every patient that comes in regardless of their diagnosis they are put on an antibiotic, how crazy is that.

Hadn't thought about that but I doubt it. There are much more leathal forms of bioterrorism which I think would be used before MRSA. But I could be wrong.

The single most important thing a person can do to prevent infection is.........?

........WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN

i don't think so. MRSA infections has become rampant because people are so accustomed to taking antibiotics even in the simplest cases of colds; self prescription can also be blamed.. in time, our bodies have been so resistant to antibiotics!

I guess it very well could be... A very close friend of the family's passed away last week from it. She was only 11 years old. Rest in Peace Shae!

No , my son had it in 1998, it took two months to cure but with Vacomycin we did , he has lost some hearing but he is ok now.