Michael Aanes'article review

R. Monina Klevens, DDS, MPH. (2007). Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in the United States. The Journal of the American Medical Assosciation, 298 (15), 1763-1771.

This article gives a good basis about MRSA rates found nationwide in 2005. This article acknowledges that MRSA is a problematic disease for each state in the United States and looks to determine the reported cases of MRSA and determine what form of MRSA is most prevalent, Hospital-Acquired or Community Acquired. The article presents information collected from 9 sites, including a site in Ramsey County, Minnesota (St. Paul). This study performed no additional services aside from providing information on the numbers of reported MRSA cases from each of the 9 sites, and providing an estimation of probable nationwide numbers. While it only looks at numbers of reported cases from July 2004 to December 2005, the numbers provided are concerning. They estimated a total of 94,360 MRSA infections in the United States in 2005. They acknowledged estimates from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA from 2000 where they estimated 31,440 MRSA cases. If these numbers are correct, it would indicate an increase in MRSA cases reported nationally.

The design of the study further broke down the data based on what each site reported. The information was broken down into whether or not the MRSA was Hospital Acquired or Community Acquired and indicated highest reported cases among age groups, race, and gender. They also indicated which of their sites saw the great differences in rates of reported MRSA cases between 2002 and 2005 and which sites remained at stable levels. The study did not indicate a decrease in reported cases at any of the sites. The authors did indicate that the study did have limitations including that they may have underestimated the reported MRSA cases if cases were reported outside of their surveillance areas, that they may have overestimated the incidence of CA-MRSA if health care risk factors were not well documented in medical records and that their surveillance sites were largely urban areas, which could also lead to an overestimation of reported MRSA cases.

I picked this article on that basis as 2005 is the starting year of which I will be conducting my research. I intend to use this information about what is known about MRSA cases reported, as I cannot not really disagree or agree with this information. This study indicates an increase in reported MRSA cases in the early 2000’s and I hope to prove that MRSA rates are on the decline in the late 2000’s. This information will also help provide information in what I should look for in further research, including reported ages, genders and races that are affected by this. Those variables can help determine the prevalence of MRSA in urban vs. rural communities. While my research will be focused on the rise or decline of MRSA rates in the Minnesota/North Dakota regions, this article, as well as others similar to it, will help me compare the rates of this region against the national numbers. In looking at this article, it raised additional questions as to why MRSA rates in certain locations are increasing while others are remaining stable. By using regional numbers vs. national numbers, further study could be done as to why MRSA are increasing in some areas and not others and what precautions and treatments could be implemented to try to get MRSA rates to decline in the areas that it continues to rise.