Pre-pregnancy Diabetes Increases Risk of MRSA Among New Mothers
Washington, DC, July 2, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Pregnant women with diabetes are more than three times as likely as mothers without diabetes to become infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) before hospital discharge, according to a study in the July issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
The study aim was to investigate the extent to which pre-pregnancy and gestational diabetes are associated with MRSA infection. Researchers found that pre-pregnancy diabetes was associated with increased risk of MRSA following delivery, but found no association between MRSA and gestational diabetes.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed more than 3.5 million delivery-related hospital admissions from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a system that accounts for 20 percent of community hospitals in the United States. Of these admissions, 5.3 percent of mothers (185,514 women) acquired diabetes during their pregnancy (gestational diabetes) and nearly one percent (28,939) had pre-pregnancy diabetes. The researchers identified 563 cases of invasive MRSA among the mothers following delivery. To the extent that infection site information was available, the most frequent sources of infection were skin (30.9 percent), urinary tract (6.4 percent), other genitourinary sites (5.2 percent), wound infections (3.0 percent) and septicemia (2.0 percent).
“When combined with previous research showing increased risk of certain infections in diabetic persons, it seems likely that diabetic women are at increased risk of MRSA infection compared with other women admitted for delivery of an infant,” conclude the authors. “As we wait for further research on this topic, it might seem prudent for hospitals to be vigilant about possible MRSA risk among diabetic women in labor and delivery.”
MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics and is an important cause of illness and sometimes death, especially among patients who have been hospitalized.
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AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control (www.ajicjournal.org) covers key topics and issues in infection control and epidemiology. Infection preventionists, including physicians, nurses, and epidemiologists, rely on AJIC for peer-reviewed articles covering clinical topics as well as original research. As the official publication of APIC, AJIC is the foremost resource on infection control, epidemiology, infectious diseases, quality management, occupational health, and disease prevention. AJIC also publishes infection control guidelines from APIC and the CDC. Published by Elsevier, AJIC is included in MEDLINE and CINAHL.
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APIC’s mission is to create a safer world through prevention of infection. The association’s more than 14,000 members direct infection prevention programs that save lives and improve the bottom line for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. APIC advances its mission through patient safety, implementation science, competencies and certification, advocacy, and data standardization. Visit APIC online at www.apic.org. Follow APIC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apic.
Notes for Editors
“Diabetes and early postpartum methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in US hospitals,” by Andrea M. Parriott and Onyebuchi A. Arah appears in the American Journal of Infection Control, Volume 41, Issue 7 (July 2013).
Authors:
Andrea M. Parriott, MPH, PhD (Corresponding Author)
Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Onyebuchi A. Arah, MD, MSc, DSc, MPH, PhD
Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
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