Findings published this week that drug-resistant staph infections constitute an unexpectedly large public health threat could fuel congressional interest in new measures to address the issue, said sponsors of legislation that would aim to better monitor the country for antibiotic resistant microorganisms.

Two members of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, Utah Democrat Jim Matheson and New Jersey Republican Mike Ferguson, have introduced a bill (HR 3697) that would find ways to curb overuse of antibiotics that leads to “superbugs” impervious to drugs, and fund research into ways to slow the development of resistance. The legislation has strong backing from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

An aide to Matheson expressed hope Friday that a new study, which found that some 94,000 life-threatening infections occurred in 2005 because of an antibiotic-resistant bacteria called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus areus, or “MRSA,” would be a catalyst for a Health Subcommittee hearing this year on the legislation.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), demonstrates the need for strict adherence by health care facilities — where 85 percent of the invasive MRSA infections occurred, the report found — with protocols to counter the bacteria, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, publicity over the problem and reports of MRSA-related infections in the community are leading to new efforts by schools to prevent their spread.

MRSA infections can range from mild skin infections to more severe, “invasive” infections of the blood stream, lungs, and surgical sites. Outbreaks of MRSA in the community usually involve skin infection. Places in which those infections have occurred include locker rooms, child-care centers and prisons, according to the study.

The CDC study and other researchers estimated that 94,360 invasive MRSA infections occurred in the United States in 2005 and were associated with 18,650 deaths. Researchers didn’t expect the incidence to be that high: “if their projection is accurate, these deaths would exceed the total number of deaths attributable” to AIDS in the U.S. in 2005, noted an editorial in the Oct. 17 issue of JAMA.

Rates of invasive infection found in the study were highest among the elderly, and blacks were affected at twice the rate of whites, possibly reflecting higher rates of chronic illness among blacks.

While a significant percentage of the invasive MRSA infections were associated with health care settings, two-thirds of those didn’t surface until the patient involved was discharged and out in the community. “It appears that what happens in the hospital does not stay in the hospital,” the JAMA editorial noted. “Patients are discharged from health care facilities with MRSA colonization that likely is often unidentified and only later develop invasive MRSA disease.”

Denise Cardo, director of CDC’s division of health care quality promotion, said “These numbers show that many families are being affected by these drug-resistant infections. He added, “Health care facilities need to make MRSA prevention a greater priority. The closer we get to 100 percent compliance with CDC recommendations, the greater the impact on patient health and safety.”

Those recommendations include hand washing, the cleaning of surfaces within hospital rooms, judicious antibiotic use, and the limited use of invasive medical devices. Strategies to control the spread of MRSA in the community also include hand washing as well as not sharing personal items, and keeping wounds clean, covered, and dry, the JAMA editorial noted.

IDSA has long urged that drug companies be given new incentives to develop antibiotics, such as longer periods of exclusive marketing (See related story, CQ HealthBeat, March 17, 2006). The prescription drug user fee and safety overhaul signed into law (PL 110-85) by President Bush in September includes provisions to encourage drug makers to develop new antibiotics.

But with few new antibiotics in the pipeline, the Matheson-Ferguson bill, also co-sponsored by California Democrat Henry A. Waxman, takes a practical approach, focusing on prolonging the effectiveness of existing drugs, according to the bill sponsors. The measure would create an Office of Antimicrobial Resistance and Advisory Board at the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate federal efforts to prevent microbes from becoming resistant to antibiotics. The CDC and the National Institutes of Health would develop a “strategic plan” to conduct research on how resistance occurs and how to prevent it.

Under the bill, new efforts would be made to collect data on the extent and nature of antibiotic use in the U.S. A new surveillance system would be established to detect the emergence of new antibiotic-resistance bacteria. And pilot programs would be established to test better ways to prevent the overuse of antibiotics.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America hasn’t taken a position on the bill, but insists that the pipeline of new products to address the resistance issue is not empty. PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said in a statement Friday that “pharmaceutical scientists are currently researching and developing new medicines to help combat infectious diseases that threaten the health of patients of all ages. In fact, there are currently 61 vaccines in the pipeline to help treat patients suffering from infectious diseases, including 8 new treatments in development for staph infections. In addition, 34 antibiotic treatments are in development to better arm patients in their fight against disease,” he said.