National Minority Quality Forum Launches Atlas That Maps MRSA 'Super Bug'

Atlas Shows "Super Bug" Hot Spots

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gary A. Puckrein, Ph.D., CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum, and Gary Doern, Ph.D., nationally recognized infectious disease expert, will host the launch of the national MRSA Atlas by way of a webinar.  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, has a mortality rate of approximately 20 percent, affecting certain populations disproportionately.  Because of MRSA resistance to antibiotics, it is often called the "super bug." The national MRSA Atlas graphically depicts the prevalence of the "super bug" across the United States.  The national MRSA Atlas – the most recent Internet-based disease map resource developed by the National Minority Quality Forum – was created to help those on the front lines fighting MRSA direct infection-control efforts to reduce the burden of disease and prevent antimicrobial resistance among hospitalized patients.

The National Minority Quality Forum (www.nmqf.org) is a non-profit healthcare research and educational organization dedicated to the elimination of health disparities.  The Forum supports national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations.  The Forum has introduced user-friendly, web-based disease atlases to provide a unique two-dimensional view of various diseases, including diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, by zip code.  Users now have an unprecedented objective and reliable source of integrated data to validate the existence of health disparities.

SOURCE National Minority Quality Forum