OSAP Offers MRSA Resource

Annapolis, MD: October 26, 2007 - The Organization for Safety & Asepsis Procedures (OSAP) has created an online informational resource on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the “superbug” that can cause life-threatening infections. Two recent studies have explored the possibility that aerosols and spatter generated during dental treatments may spread MRSA, so dental practitioners should inform themselves about MRSA and its spread.

MRSA is a potentially deadly version of a common bacterium that causes pimples, boils, sinus infection, and, in rare cases, meningitis and blood infections. Even healthy people can carry MRSA on their skin, but it can turn deadly when it enters the bloodstream. The organism sickens more than 90,000 Americans each year and kills nearly 19,000. News of the rise in MRSA infections has been widely reported in the media and consumer advocates have called for testing all new hospital patients for MRSA. The U.S. Senate recently passed an amendment to provide funds to identify and suppress the spread of it.

OSAP has developed a page devoted to MRSA on its website at www.OSAP.org (go to Resources – click on fly out menu, then “MRSA”). This site will be constantly updated to ensure dental professionals have the information and resources necessary to ensure the safety of their patients and themselves against MRSA.


OSAP is the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures. Founded in 1984, the non-profit association is dentistry's premier resource for infection control and safety information. Through its publications, courses, website, and worldwide collaborations, OSAP and the tax-exempt OSAP Foundation support education, research, service, and policy development to promote safety and the control of infectious diseases in dental healthcare settings worldwide.

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