MRSA Cases in California Skyrocket

The report noted that over the years, the resistant strain of bacteria has become more virulent and is more often found in healthy people, without pre-existing conditions, people who have not had any contact with a healthcare setting.

They manifest as pimples or boils, but can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs or urinary tract.

Jan Emerson, spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, said the report doesn't provide a lot of detail "other than the total of cases jumped between 1999 and 2007. Also it appears most of the cases came from community-acquired MRSA rather than hospital-acquired MRSA."

Jon Rosenberg, MD, of the California Department of Public Health's Infectious Disease Branch, says the OSHPD report is a reminder for hospital workers and other healthcare providers to be especially on their guard to use precautions when treating patients.

"We know that more and more we're seeing patients with this particularly nasty organism that we don't want spreading through the healthcare system," Rosenberg says. To this point, most of the strains of MRSA are being brought in from the community, not passed around within hospital settings, but that could change if providers aren't vigilant.

"You need to observe he highest levels of infection control," he says. "The thing that's different about this organism is the potential threat to the healthcare worker."