Via Health & Safety Watch:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is spreading in Northwest Territories. Excerpt:
Event Update: According to a media report, Northern health officials are growing increasingly concerned as infection rates from a dangerous superbug continue to rise.
Figures released Friday show infection rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – referred to as MRSA – have more than quadrupled in the Northwest Territories since 2007.
There have been 142 cases so far in 2012. The next highest year, 2010, had 138 over the full 12 months.
Northwest Territories Health and Social Services reports that th presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), commonly known as “superbugs”, continues to be a concern in the Northwest Territories (NWT).
Rates of MRSA infection are currently highest in the Tli Cho and Beaufort Delta regions. The greatest increase in numbers has been found in the 0-4 age group, which is particularly worrisome given the greater susceptibility of infants to more severe infections.