Submitted Resolutions

Floor Speech

SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - February 14, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in response to the emerging threat of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infections, I introduced legislation in November to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of community and healthcare-associated infections. The Community and Healthcare Associated Infections Reduction Act of 2007 builds on what hospitals are already doing and what infectious disease experts and government agencies agree is critical to reducing the emergence of these infections.

In the last few months, the problem has persisted and Congress has done little. The problem is not going away. Just last month a hospital in Chicago treated a patient with a nasty sore on his wrist that was attributable to MRSA. Unfortunately, the hospital found that the infection was unresponsive to two medications that have been recommended, mainstay treatments for MRSA. The already-formidable microbe has strengthened its defenses.

Scientists are constantly trying to learn more information about MRSA and its impact on communities, even while healthcare professionals are fighting to keep patients safe. Although MRSA infections can be mild or moderate, almost 100,000 become serious and lead to 19,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC estimates that in 2005 in the U.S., 94,000 people developed an invasive drug-resistant staph infection. Out of 94,000 infections, researchers found that more than half were acquired in the health care system--people who had recently had surgery or were on kidney dialysis, for example. The 9,000--often needless--American deaths from these infections every year account for more than the number of people who died from HIV/AIDS, homicide, emphysema, or Parkinson's.

MRSA infections are a persistent crisis. In 2002, Illinois hospitals diagnosed 6,841 cases of MRSA. In 2006, that number was 10,714. Steady growth in the incidence of MRSA cases shows a 56.7 percent increase over a 5-year period. As a result, the State of Illinois has taken aggressive steps to identify the infection before it grows out of control. Illinois was the first State to require testing of all high-risk hospital patients and isolation of those who carry the MRSA bacteria. Twenty-two States have passed laws that will give their residents important information about hospital infections. Nineteen States have laws that require public reporting of infection rates.

Hospitals are actively working to identify and control infections, implementing infection control plans to maintain the safety of patients. For example, Evanston Northwestern Hospital is now placing patients who test positive for MRSA in ``contact isolation.'' That means patients are placed in private rooms or rooms with other MRSA-positive patients. Also, patients who developed symptoms of infection at the hospitals are tested and treated on the premises. The strategy is working. Evanston Northwestern went from 1,200 cases of patient-to-patient MRSA transmission in 2003 to 80 cases in 2006, and the $600,000-a-year program saved twice as much as it cost.

But we can't leave it up to the hospitals to control these infections. About half of the infections that end up being treated in hospitals were actually picked up in the community. Schools in Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky have had to close to help contain the spread of an infection. School officials in Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, and Virginia have reported student deaths from bacteria, while officials in at least four other States reported cases of students being infected.

Today, I am introducing a bipartisan resolution with the support of my colleagues Senator Hatch, Senator Menendez, Senator Specter, and Senator Brown to designate March as MRSA Awareness Month. We hope this resolution will bring more attention to the need to address this critical public health issue--not only by communities and healthcare organizations, but by the Federal Government.

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