Abstract
BackgroundSurveillance examining the incidence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) was conducted over 8 years beginning in 2001 in three health regions covering the northern half of Saskatchewan. The annual rate of individuals reported with CA-MRSA infection in these regions dramatically increased from 8.2 per 10,000 population in 2001 (range to 4.4-10.1 per 10,000) to 168.1 per 10,000 in 2006 (range 43.4-230.9 per 10,000). To address this issue, a team of community members, healthcare professionals, educators and research scientists formed a team called "the Northern Antibiotic Resistance Partnership" (NARP) to develop physician, patient, community, and school based educational materials in an attempt to limit the spread of CA-MRSA.MethodsPosters, radio broadcasts, community slide presentations, physician treatment algorithms, patient pamphlets, and school educational programs Do Bugs Need Drugs http://www.dobugsneeddrugs.org and Germs Away http://www.germsaway.ca were provided to targeted northern communities experiencing high rates of infections.ResultsFollowing implementation of this program, the rates of MRSA infections in the targeted communities have decreased nearly two-fold (242.8 to 129.3 infections/10,000 population) from 2006 to 2008. Through pre-and post-educational intervention surveys, this decrease in MRSA infections coincided with an increase in knowledge related to appropriate antimicrobial usage and hand washing in these communities.ConclusionThese educational materials are all freely available http://www.narp.ca and will hopefully aid in increasing awareness of the importance of proper antimicrobial usage and hygiene in diminishing the spread of S. aureus and other infectious diseases in other communities.
Highlights
Surveillance examining the incidence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) was conducted over 8 years beginning in 2001 in three health regions covering the northern half of Saskatchewan
We describe the rapid emergence of CA-MRSA in northern regions of Saskatchewan and the potential effect of a community-based educational intervention http://www.narp.ca to limit its spread in targeted communities
Over the 8 year study period, the annual rate of individuals reported with CA-MRSA infection in northern Saskatchewan have dramatically increased from 8.2 per 10,000 population in 2001 to 142.6 per 10,000 in 2008, which is almost 10 times higher than all reported MRSA cases in neighboring northern Manitoba health regions [14] and the province of Alberta [12]
Summary
Surveillance examining the incidence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) was conducted over 8 years beginning in 2001 in three health regions covering the northern half of Saskatchewan. The annual rate of individuals reported with CA-MRSA infection in these regions dramatically increased from 8.2 per 10,000 population in 2001 (range to 4.4-10.1 per 10,000) to 168.1 per 10,000 in 2006 (range 43.4-230.9 per 10,000) To address this issue, a team of community members, healthcare professionals, educators and research scientists formed a team called “the Northern Antibiotic Resistance Partnership” (NARP) to develop physician, patient, community, and school based educational materials in an attempt to limit the spread of CAMRSA. Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an emerging pathogen in North America. These strains differ from typical healthcare associated MRSA in that they often harbour the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) toxin, and are generally more susceptible to classes of antimicrobials other. CMRSA7 was thereafter seen in central eastern [4] and northern Saskatchewan with annual crude rates of infections as high as 482 per 10,000 population in some communities [2]
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