IDSA Releases First MRSA Treatment Guidelines

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its first guidelines for battling methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The infection is responsible for about 60 percent of skin infections seen in emergency rooms. Each year, invasive MRSA kills an estimated 18,000 people.

The guidelines are intended to help standardize treatment for the infection, which currently varies widely. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics to treat MRSA can contribute to drug resistance, and the guidelines note that uncomplicated skin infections can be treated without antibiotics. The guidelines also call for the development of more sophisticated antibiotics to treat invasive MRSA.

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