Benefits in Surgery Found for Antibiotic

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/13/health/13NASA.html

Benefits in Surgery Found for Antibiotic

By REUTERS

BOSTON, June 12 — Applying an antibiotic to the noses of some surgery patients can sharply reduce their risk of developing a severe infection in the surgical wound, a new study has found.

Doctors discovered years ago that if surgery patients harbored the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus in their nasal cavities, the risk of infection in the wound was up to nine times that of those who did not.

 


 

But in this week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, being published on Thursday, researchers report that applying the antibiotic mupirocin, to eliminate the bacteria from the noses of surgery patients could cut the risk of wound infection nearly in half.

The bacterium is normally found in the noses of 25 to 30 percent of patients in hospitals and usually causes little harm, but it can cause serious problems if it contaminates wounds, especially in patients whose immune systems have been weakened.

The ointment is sold under the brand name Bactroban Nasal by GlaxoSmithKline, which paid for the study.

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