NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

The NWT is rapidly catching up to provinces in the number of occurrences of superbug infections, says the Department of Health and Social Services.

Dr. David Pontin, an emergency room physician at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and Caroline Newberry, senior communicable disease specialist, said the best protection is preventative measures, like washing your hands. - Nicole Veerman/NNSL photo

Prior to 2008, the territory would experience between three to five cases of the superbug MRSA per year; in 2010, there were 124.

"It's been a big problem down in the south for a long time, both in southern cities of Canada, but also the United States," said Dr. David Pontin, an emergency room physician at Stanton Territorial Hospital, at a press conference Thursday. "The prevalence of community acquired MRSA up here has sort of exploded in the last couple of years and we went from seeing very, very little community acquired MRSA in the emergency department, to a situation now where approximately half of all of the soft tissue and skin infections that we're seeing are community acquired MRSA."

MRSA is a bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and causes skin infections that can lead to serious infections like pneumonia, blood and bone infections, urine infections and flesh-eating disease.

Caroline Newberry, senior communicable disease specialist with the GNWT, said superbugs live everywhere, on everything.

"Prevention is the best way to reduce the likelihood of acquiring a superbug related infection," she said, suggesting people think about what they touch. "It's important to practise good hand washing and good hygiene and to know the signs and symptoms of a superbug infection and how to care for it."

Newberry said there are five risk factors for superbug infections: crowded conditions, close contact, lack of cleanliness, having compromised or broken skin and sharing common personal items, like towels, clothing and sports equipment.

The superbug most commonly found in the NWT, CAMRSA 10, is the most aggressive strain of MRSA.

"What this means is that we see a lot more serious infections from this than other strains of CAMRSA in other parts of the country," said Pontin.

Symptoms of an MRSA infection are swelling, pain or redness around a boil or open sore, discharge with pus, fever and difficulty breathing.

Pontin said in many cases, the body will fight off the infection without medication.

"For the average person, if you were to leave this infection alone, and not really do too much, most people would just recover."

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