Patients harboring methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for long periods of time continue to be at increased risk of MRSA infection and death, according to a new study in the July 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is making news as a dangerous, sometimes fatal disease for hospital patients, and in recent cases, students. MRSA is also a major source of illness acquired in nursing homes, yet few studies have looked at how to prevent its spread among elderly residents, according to a new review.

The next time you have difficulty fighting a bacterial infection, your next trip to the doctor might be to the family veterinarian. A new University of Missouri-Columbia study is investigating whether the family pet could be a reservoir for infections of multi-resistant bacteria in humans.

A Rhode Island Hospital study presented today at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) annual meeting found that patients in long-term elder care and HIV-infected outpatients appear to be high-risk groups for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause for health care associated infections.