MRSA infections on rise outside Tennessee hospitals

Invasive MRSA is the third most-common reportable communicable disease in Tennessee, according to representatives from the Tennessee Department of Health. Staph infections with resistance to some antibiotics have occcurred in healthcare facilities since the 1960s, but public Tennessee health officials are now watching a growing tide of a strain that is contracted outside hospital settings. As a result, hospitals in the state have doubled their emphasis on hand-washing and infection control, and precautions have been taken in facilities where the infection is likely to be spread, such as jails, schools, and locker rooms.