A Los Angeles Times article recently highlighted the dangers posed by MRSA and discussed potential methods of combating this deadly disease. The recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that MRSA is responsible for killing more Americans than AIDS, and another study conducted in November found that the number of hospitalizations from MRSA had more than doubled in six years.

The article stresses that California should take the first step of identifying how prevalent MRSA is in order to help fight the disease. An upcoming bill by state Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) would make MRSA a reportable disease and require hospitals and nursing homes to report their infection rates.

Another concern is that the proliferation of superbugs similar to MRSA is outpacing the development of new antibiotics, which are less profitable for pharmaceutical companies because they're used for a limited time. The article suggests that the federal government should provide financial incentives to drug companies to develop drugs to fight MRSA infections.

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