Norway's strict limit on antibiotic use has resulted in far less cases of the methycillin-resistant streptococci infections that kill an estimated 19,000 patients in U.S. hospitals each year, and some observers are wondering if the U.S. healthcare system could reduce those cases by replicating the Scandinavian country's control program, according to healthcare market research report publisher Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA).

MRSA represents over 65% of hospital staph infections in the United States and 44% in the United Kingdom, but only 1% in Norway. According to major press reports, this is due to Norway's practice of limiting antibiotic use and instead isolating infected patients and healthcare providers. Kalorama Information believes this success story is an example that boosts the diagnostic industry's case that its products are cost-cutters, and if it were implemented even partially in the US, makers would see increased demand for testing products.

"Once you stop prescribing antibiotics broadly, as is the case in Norway and other European countries, you need to test everyone to know who to isolate,” said Bruce Carlson, president of Kalorama Information. "This has a cost, but the price of screening is generally outweighed by the costs of the disease.”

Attempts to control MRSA have been made at individual hospitals. Beth Israel Medical Center (Newark, NJ, USA) and University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore, MD, USA) are among hospitals that have reported considerably reduced cases with an increased screening program.

According to Kalorama Information's market research, there is a host of testing procedures for MRSA. Chromogenic growth media permit the selective growth of MRSA bacteria and produce a colored colony that is easily recognizable, with plates that generally cost four [U.S.] dollars. However, the results could take as long as two days, which may be too late for an isolation strategy. A molecular test may cost five to six times as much as the conventional test, but the results take only two to four hours. Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), Becton Dickinson (Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA), and Roche Molecular (Pleasanton, CA, USA) are among the larger companies active in molecular MRSA testing.

Kalorama Information supplies independent market research in the life sciences, as well as a full range of research services.

Related Links:
Kalorama Information