A Las Vegas Sun investigation found that lethal “superbugs" are infecting thousands of patients in local hospitals. The analysis of hospital billing records on file with the state identified 2,010 cases in 2008 and 2009 in which Las Vegas hospital patients were infected with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA, or Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff. In 239 cases, the patient died in the hospital, although the billing records do not show whether the infection contributed to each death. Four panelists at a forum sponsored by the Sun highlighted the dangers posed by the bacteria, obstacles to fighting their spread and potential solutions to this hidden epidemic.
