Link: milton.yourguide.com.au.
Infectious diseases experts have warned hospitals are failing to cope with a scourge of an aggressive and potentially fatal superbug, and patients are paying the price.
Specialists from Canberra and Melbourne say golden staph, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is an alarmingly entrenched problem throughout Australian hospitals and has little chance of improving under current practices.
Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, the doctors say minor changes to hospital practices have led to small reductions in infection rates in some hospitals.
However, overall the superbug continues to be a "scourge", and a signal the health system is under stress, said Professor Peter Collignon, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Canberra Hospital.
"The cost of not dealing with MRSA, as is currently the case in most Australian states, appears to be huge, including prolonged patient length of stay and re-attendances to outpatient clinics, not to mention the suffering of affected patients," Prof Collignon said.
