New law targets tough infections in N.J. hospitals

TRENTON - Marion Costa doesn't know why she's alive.

Four years ago she suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, and paramedics rushed her to a hospital.

"I did not expect to live," said Costa, 67, of Red Bank. "I told my children what I wanted done because I didn't have a will, and I was at peace with that because I felt I had a good life."

She survived, only to fall prey in the hospital to another danger - infection resistant to most drugs.

MRSA, which vulnerable patients can acquire in health-care settings, is considered a serious and growing threat nationwide.

With that in mind, Gov. Corzine yesterday signed legislation making New Jersey the latest state to order special precautions at hospitals. The law creates a screening program to find patients who enter the hospital with MRSA, and mandates infection controls to prevent its spread to other patients.

Hospitals must report cases of MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - to the state.

In a very short time, about two dozen states have passed laws that mandate reporting and other measures against hospital-acquired infections that are resistant to antibiotics.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Rendell signed measures that tackle the issue as part of his broad health-care package, "Prescription for Pennsylvania."

"It's definitely a step forward," said Costa, who considers her survival "a miracle." "But the bill will do no good unless the people understand what is going on and how dangerous it is."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two million patients annually get an infection in a hospital, and 90,000 die from it.

The agency found 70 percent of the infections contracted in hospitals are resistant to at least one drug often used to treat them, with people infected with such bacteria facing longer hospital stays and requiring treatment with drugs that may be less effective and more toxic and expensive.

"Staph infections are highly avoidable, and having this prevention program in place to protect patients is a matter of good public-health policy for New Jersey," said Corzine, who also signed bills establishing a three year-pilot program to do comprehensive eye examinations for second-grade students and requiring the placement of organ-donation information at public colleges and universities.

The New Jersey Hospital Association supports the MRSA law. Its spokesman, Ron Czajkowski, said it would help standardize hospital procedures.

"It's going to give everyone an opportunity to meet on a level playing field," said Carolyn Zagury, director of the hospital association's Quality Institute.

Zagury said the reporting requirement would allow hospitals to pull together information on where the infection is coming from, its extent and risk factors.

Costa's infection - acquired during her recovery from the internal bleeding that landed her in the hospital - stemmed from an intravenous tube that was to be left in her arm for three days in case she needed blood transfusions. But it was left in for six days.

She started experiencing excruciating headaches.

"The pain just got worse and worse and started going down my back and through my legs and my whole body."

She became disoriented. Her fever rocketed to 105 degrees. She was heavily sedated for three days to control her pain.

Before it was over, Costa's bleeding and high fever returned, she underwent blood transfusions, and she suffered two more antibiotic-resistant infections. She needed eight antibiotics, with a nursing home stint and seven months of physical therapy just to walk again.