Having diabetes prior to becoming pregnant raises a woman's risk of developing a dangerous staph infection during hospitalization for labor and delivery.
Researchers Andrea Parriott, PhD, and Onyebuchi Arah, MD, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles, reporting in the American Journal of Infection Control, found that women with diabetes before pregnancy had a threefold risk of developing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, compared to woman who did not have diabetes before pregnancy.
Diabetic patients are already at an increased risk of developing hospital acquired infections but next to nothing was known of the prevalence of MRSA among diabetic women admitted for delivery,
The researchers wrote,
Whereas women admitted to labor and delivery are generally young and healthy and lack many of the risk factors for nosocomial MRSA infection, the large numbers of women ... mean that this group may make a substantial contribution to the burden of MRSA infections, even if the risk of infection is low.
Researchers analyzed data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, representing one-fifth of U.S. community hospitals and including over 3.5 million deliveries between 2005 and 2008. Those with pre-pregnancy diabetes accounted for 0.8 percent, 0.1 percent were diabetic women with complications, and 5.3 percent were women with gestational diabetes.
Of the 563 cases of MRSA they found, the most common primary infection site was the skin, accounting for one third of all cases, followed far behind by the urinary tract (6.4 percent). Among the 563, 17 occurred in women who were diabetic before pregnancy. Following analysis, they concluded that diabetic women three times more likely to develop the infection, and urged hospitals to be more vigilant about maintaining sterile environments for these patients.
Source: MedPage Today
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