Recent Blog Posts

Labs Should Report Staph Infections, Health Department Says

By Special to the Sun | October 25, 2007

The city's health department wants laboratories in New York City to report cases of antibiotic-resistant staph infections, according to a proposal outlined yesterday.

The current health code does not require the reporting of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, a skin infection that has made headlines in recent weeks after a number of students nationwide became infected.

MRSA was linked to the death of a 17-year-old in Virginia last week.

The city's proposal would place the burden of automatic, electronic reporting on laboratories, not doctors.

"We've been investigating and looking into MRSA," the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said. "We can't really track the trends without reporting."


Reader comments on this article

Comment By Date

This is now an issue because a young person died in Virginia. MSRA has been an epidemic in NYC hospitals... [MORE]

marsha rimler 

Oct 25, 2007 08:20

This has now become a emergency because a teenager sadly died in the state of Virginia. MSRA has been infecting... [MORE]

marsha rimler 

Oct 25, 2007 09:28