It is also becoming a problem in nursing homes and in community settings. MRSA is not necessarily any more virulent than other infections but the range of treatment options is more limited because of patients' resistance to antibiotics. Hospital-acquired infections, which are thought to affect 1 million people on any one day, increase patients' discomfort and their time spent in hospital. Lives can be put at risk. There is public concern that hospitals are no longer safe places in which to be and hospital staff are also at risk of infection.
Infection increases the cost of treatment.
Failure to control the spread of MRSA is likely to result in serious infections which are difficult to treat, increased drug and other treatment costs, closed wards or special units and disruption to the normal running of hospitals. The number of infections acquired is a good measure of the standards of care in a hospital. The inclusion of hospital rates of infection in league tables could act as an incentive for improvement. Infection-control nurses can reduce the risk of infection both in hospital and after patients are discharged into the community. However, more are needed.