Potential Community-Acquired MRSA Infections Investigated in California Beach Community

Over recent months, there have been several published reports about concerns over antibiotic-resistant infections in California. In December, LA Weekly reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health was investigating reports of the possibility of multiple cases of infections due to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The same publication reported last month that county health officials have stated that there has been no increased risk of MRSA infections in the area.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to several antibiotics. In the general community, MRSA most often causes skin infections. In some cases, it causes pneumonia and other issues. If left untreated, MRSA infections can become severe and cause sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to severe infection in the body. 

In recent years, there have been numerous reports of MRSA outbreaks in community settings. Infection risks can increase when a person is involved in activities or places that include crowding, skin-to-skin contact and shared equipment or supplies.

The CDC states that 2 in 100 people carry MRSA and to help prevent its spread, the agency provides information about environmental cleaning and disinfecting for this superbug in the general community. Surfaces to focus on include places that touch people’s bare skin each day and any surfaces that could come into contact with uncovered infections.

“Surface testing for MRSA can help to identify exposure risks, verify cleaning and disinfection procedures and help to pinpoint the source of an outbreak if one has already occurred,” said Michael Chapman, Laboratory Manager of LA Testing’s Huntington Beach facility. “LA Testing can help with each of these tasks through environmental pathogen testing services for MRSA and a wide range of other superbugs. These services are routinely put into action in healthcare environments, but in more recent years, people have also become increasingly aware of the need for testing due to community-acquired infections.”

LA Testing recently sponsored an educational video about environmental cleaning and disinfecting for MRSA in the general community that can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9PXekClyp0.  

To learn more about microbial pathogen testing services or other environmental issues, please visit www.LATesting.com, email  info@LATesting.com  or call (800) 755-1794. 

About LA Testing

LA Testing is California’s leading laboratory for air quality testing of asbestos, mold, lead, VOCs, formaldehyde, soot, char, ash and smoke damage, particulates and other chemicals. In addition, LA Testing offers a full range of air sampling and investigative equipment to professionals and the general public. LA Testing maintains an extensive list of accreditations including: AIHA LAP LLC., AIHA ELLAP, AIHA EMLAP and AIHA IHLAP, NVLAP, CDC ELITE, State of California, State of Hawaii Department of Health and other states. LA Testing, along with the EMSL Analytical, Inc. network, has multiple laboratories throughout California including Huntington Beach, San Diego, San Leandro and South Pasadena.
 

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LA Testing

(1) 856-303-2503

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