August 21, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eau Claire, Wis., - Sacred Heart Hospital is the first hospital in the region to offer advanced on-site laboratory tests to detect the DNA of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). In the United States, MRSA is a widespread superbug, a type of bacteria that causes "staph" infections that are resistant to treatment with usual antibiotics. As many as 2.5 million people in the United States are carriers.

MRSA can spread in both community and healthcare settings. In a hospital, a newly admitted patient with MRSA (but no symptoms) may be the most common source of transmission and infection. This risk of infection is dangerous to patients that undergo invasive medical procedures or who have weakened immune systems. In healthcare settings, MRSA can cause serious and potentially life-threatening conditions such as bloodstream and surgical site infections, and pneumonia.

Sacred Heart's Laboratory’s Chemistry Supervisor Jim Sorenson, MT, ASCP, explained, "DNA testing is something that you hear being used by forensic detectives on the show CSI to fight crime. We’re using it at Sacred Heart Hospital to fight infectious disease. Until recently, this advanced molecular and biochemical technology was only available in research labs. Today it is being used to amplify and detect MRSA DNA to save lives. Over half of all hospital infections in the United States are caused by MRSA." The test is called PCR for "polymerase chain reaction," a technique for isolating, replicating and amplifying a fragment of DNA. Jim added, "By screening critical and intensive care surgical patients, and patients that are at risk of being MRSA carriers, we can prevent infection and transmission."

The new PCR test is a new tool in the hospital’s arsenal of infection control protocols. The results are rapid, another advantage in identifying and reducing infection risk. Infection Control Professional Donna Moraska explained, "A sample is easily taken with a simple swab inside the nose. The highly advanced test to detect the MRSA DNA will be processed in the Laboratory daily so that physicians have results available within 24 hours or less, depending on when the specimen was received. Patients with positive tests will be placed in private rooms with isolation precautions to prevent transmission."

The PCR test not only saves lives, it helps reduce overall healthcare costs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people infected with antibiotic-resistant organisms like MRSA are more likely to have longer and more expensive hospital stays, and may be more likely to die as a result of the infection. When the drug of choice for treating their infection doesn’t work, they require treatment with second- or third-choice medicines that may be less effective, more toxic and more expensive.

Laboratory Director Deb Bloom said, "Ben Franklin was an inventor who famously said about firefighting, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ In addition to taking lives, MRSA infections cause needless suffering. On top of this human toll is the staggering cost and burden to our healthcare system. Because it’s a price everyone ends up paying, an ounce of prevention is good medicine."

Sacred Heart Hospital joined a major national initiative called the 5 Million Lives Campaign launched by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The campaign’s goal is to dramatically reduce incidents of medical harm and save lives in U.S. hospitals by adopting several improvements in care. Combating the superbug MRSA is a key component of IHI’s 5 Million Lives Campaign. Sacred Heart Hospital fully supports this and other IHI efforts to encourage hospitals to implement scientifically proven infection control practices.

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Sacred Heart Hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System. Since 1889 it has been meeting patient needs in western Wisconsin with the latest medical innovations and technology, together with a Franciscan whole-person healing tradition.