May 10, 2011
Seven years ago, Everly Macario lost her one and a half year old son to an infection she would later learn was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Her story, which she recounts in the Huffington Post, is a tragic recounting of the devastating effects of antibiotic resistant infections and the importance of promoting judicious antibiotic use.
While hospital-acquired MRSA rates have been on the decline, MRSA acquired in the community setting, like the strain contracted by Dr. Macario’s son, has been on the rise. In coping with her son’s death, Dr. Macario has turned her energy and expertise to spreading awareness about the issue at the crux of our growing problem with antibiotic resistance – how the misuse of antibiotics encourages the spread of resistant infections.
Read her story – an important reminder about why we need to care (more) about how we use antibiotics.
Image credit: Flickr: crossn81
