+ Drug resistant staph on the rise

Staph infections (the drug-resistant variety is known as MRSA) are big news this week after a CDC study announced that staph kills more people in the US than AIDS:

About 18,700 people die in this country each year from drug-resistant staph infections, according to a federal study released Tuesday — more deaths than the United States sees from AIDS annually. Based on data from 2005, the agency estimated that about 94,400 patients nationwide suffer an invasive MRSA infection each year.

Staph infections have sidelined several of my favorite athletes lately, including UFC stars Diego Sanchez, Nick Diaz, and Karo Parysian. I've spent a lot of time on wrestling mats myself and gotten a few staph infections on my skin- nothing serious, but with MRSA spreading like it is, I'm hoping we can find a way to fight it before I get on the mats again.

Ironically, most MRSA infections happen at health care facilities, which presents a real challenge for the future of the health care industry and the people that create health care environments.

"This is an alarming number of infections and a very significant number of deaths," said Dr. Monina Klevens, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC. "This is really a call to action for health care facilities to do a better job at preventing MRSA."

Check out a few more stories on staph and MRSA here and here.