S2580

SOUTH PLAINFIELD – Senator Barbara Buono, sponsor of S-2580, a measure that will hospitals to implement infection prevention programs made the following statement at today’s bill signing ceremony:

“Drug-resistant bacteria, the so-called “supergerms,” like MRSA, are becoming an increasingly large problem for American hospitals.

TRENTON – Senator Barbara Buono today welcomed Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee approval of her bill to require hospitals to implement more stringent infection prevention programs targeted at limiting the number of antibiotic-resistant staph infections.

“Infections by these so-called supergerms are becoming an increasing problem in hospitals nationwide,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex. “By implementing some rather simple precautionary measures, we can save countless lives and billions of dollars each year.”

TRENTON – Saying that, “A few very basic safeguards can save the State millions of dollars in health care costs,” Senator Barbara Buono today welcomed Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approval of her bill to require hospitals to implement more stringent infection prevention programs targeted at limiting the number of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.

According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports, two million patients in this country become infected after entering hospitals each year and about 90,000 those patients die as a result of those infections. Those reports also point to MRSA becoming the dominant cause of hospital staph infections over the past three decades, rising from 2% of all reported cases in 1974 to more than 63% of all cases in the United States.