Biotechnology Healthcare - June 2008 - (Page 61) and nursing homes, where it strikes those who are most susceptible to infections, including older adults, immunocompromised individuals, and patients with burns and surgical wounds. In the community, MRSA incidence also has increased dramatically (Klevens 2007b). In schools, it spreads rapidly among children, whose immune systems often are immature, and in athletic programs through cuts and skin-toskin contact. In the workplace, MRSA commonly is spread by use of telephones and computer keyboards, and in bathrooms and fitness facilities (Armour 2007). The causes of communityacquired and healthcare-associated MRSA are different (Naimi 2003), but the community-acquired MRSA has become the leading source of skin and soft-tissue infections seen in U.S. emergency departments (Moran 2006). HAIs are a significant public health threat and cost payers and purchasers billions of dollars annually. But, to a large extent, they are preventable. Mandatory reporting of infection rates and Medicare’s policy to stop paying hospitals for preventable costs has energized the battle against HAIs. As incentives increase, hospitals are more willing to invest in private-sector products and services to control HAIs. Private companies are racing to develop the most innovative diagnostic, surveillance, and standardization systems and products that combine the needs of healthcare with the promises of information technology and biotechnology. These technologies require an up-front investment, but as with many preventive public health interventions, the return on investment may be incalculably great. REFERENCES Akridge J. 2007 Infection Control Buyer’s Guide: new tools, old tricks usher in evolution of infection prevention and control. «http://www. hpn online. com/inside/2007-06/0706-ICguide. html». Accessed Apr. 7, 2008. Armour S. More companies focus on preventing staph infections. USA Today. Dec. 10, 2007. Borgert N. 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Bundle Up for Safety. «http:// www.ihi.org/IHI/Topics/CriticalCare/ IntensiveCare/ImprovementStories/ BundleUpforSafety.htm». Accessed April 7, 2008. IHS Inc. Frost: medical devices ensure growth for antimicrobial coatings market. May 23, 2006. «http:// engineers.ihs.com/news/2006/frostantimicrobial-coatings.htm». Accessed April 7, 2008. Jackson V. Personal correspondence. Aug. 1, 2007. Jarvis WR, Schlosser J, Chinn RY, et al. National prevalence of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus in inpatients at US health care facilities, 2006. Am J Infect Control. 2007;35: 631–637. Klein E, Smith DL, Laxminarayan R. Hospitalizations and deaths caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, United States, 1999–2005. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007;13:1840–1846. Klevens RM, Edwards JR, Richards CL, et al. Estimating health care-associated infections and deaths in U.S. hospi- tals, 2002. Public Health Rep. 2007a; 122:160–166. Klevens RM, Morrison MA, Nadle J, et al. 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JAMA. 2003;290:2976–2984. Pear R. Medicare says it won’t cover hospital errors. «http://www.nytimes. com/2007/08/19/washington/ 19hospital.html?_r=1&oref=slogin». Accessed April 7, 2008. PHC4 (Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council). Hospitalacquired infections in Pennsylvania. November 2006. «http://www.phc4. org/reports/hai/05/docs/hai2005report. pdf». Accessed April 7, 2008. Sack K. Swabs in hand, hospital cuts deadly infections. «http://www nytimes.com/2007/07/27/us/27infect. html». Accessed April 7, 2008. Somers T. Battling a superbug. San Diego Union-Tribune. Sept. 9, 2005. Vecna Medical. RICT: RFID infection control technology. «http://www.vecnamedical.com/ medical/research-rict.shtml». Accessed April 7, 2008. Disclosures Virginia Jackson and David B. Nash, MD, MBA, report that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to the products mentioned in this article or their manufacturers. 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