A DRUG-RESISTANT superbug that spreads by skin contact is infecting thousands of people across the US and may now have reached Europe.
The MRSA bacterium, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, can be resistant to many antibiotics. It has long been a serious problem in hospitals and nursing homes, where it infects the wounds of patients weakened by disease or injury. But it now appears that a new strain is emerging that spreads through skin contact and can even infect healthy people.
“We are greatly concerned that MRSA has emerged in the community in people with no ties to healthcare,” says Scott Fridkin, a medical epidemiologist at the…
