Business News and Information

According to a government report released Tuesday, over 90,000 people in the United States develop potentially fatal infections from staphylococcus aureus, or staph, every year. Through genetic mutation staph has developed a resistance to many antibiotics, making it a multiresistant bacterium, or more commonly, a superbug.

Staph is very common, about 33 percent of us carry on our skin or in our mucus membranes at all times. But once it has entered the body, the bacteria can cause infections ranging from mild, like folliculitis, to the very serious, such as septicemia (an infection of the blood).

People with weakened immune systems, like children and the elderly, people with HIV/AIDS or other chronic illnesses, are most susceptible to infection. Once an individual is infected staph is easily passed to others.

Preventing the spread of staph, while a higher priority for hospitals, schools, and gyms (areas where most infections occur) should also be a concern for any business.

MRSA is very expensive to treat, as more common drugs like penicillin and tetracycline are ineffective against the aggressive illness. While this is likely a boon to the pharmaceutical giants, this is not so good for businesses, health insurance, and hospitals.

The fiscal impact of an infected employee can be astounding, considering the cost of treatment and the loss of productivity while the person is hospitalized. This is assuming the infection hasn’t spread to other employees or family (while it’s becoming less common for dependents and spouses to be covered by the company health provider, this is still a prevalent practice).

Besides practicing basic hygiene (you know, keeping your hands clean, sanitizing common surfaces, etc.) Easton Ellsworth, Editor at KMM, wrote a post that offers some good tips for any business interested in preventing staph and saving money.