Local doctors have seen a larger increase in what they call "community" MRSA as opposed to those who have acquired the infection in a health care setting. As a result of the increase in "community" cases, the Indiana State Department of Health will announce the creation of a MRSA Task Force this morning in Indianapolis.

MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, is a staph infection transmitted through skin-to-skin contact or skin-to-object contact. Doctors define "community" MRSA -- which had received much of the news coverage as new cases occur weekly in schools across Northwest Indiana -- as a superficial skin and soft tissue infection.

Hospital-acquired MRSA on the other hand can affect any site and can be seen in the blood stream.

For the most part, all that is needed to avoid MRSA is common sense: Wash your hands. Cover up a wound.

Dr. Douglas Mazurek, who practices in the intensive care unit at Porter hospital, said his facility has a low hospital-acquired MRSA rate.

"The placement of IV lines are sterile," he said. "We aggressively control blood sugars, and we remove catheters when they are not necessary."

Doctors and nurses pay a lot of attention to hand washing, and use barriers such as masks, gloves and gowns when going in and out of patient rooms, Mazurek said.

"If someone comes into the unit with MRSA, we try to help them leave without it," he said. "We want to be sure that no one acquires MRSA in our unit."

While there's no reason to panic regarding the increase of MRSA in the community, people need to be aware of it and take precautions against spreading it, noted Dr. Radhika Kolli, Porter hospital's infectious disease specialist.

Any patient who comes into the hospital with an open wound is tested for MRSA, Kolli said, adding some of those who have contracted the community variety of the infection also seem to have pneumonia. One obstacle is not just clearing the infection, but also preventing a reoccurrence, she said.

At hospitals in the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services network, officials in early October assembled a multi-disciplinary team to identify the sources of infection and implement control measures to reduce hospital-acquired MRSA rates by 50 percent within six months.

The network, which includes St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond, will screen emergency room and renal dialysis patients, as well as those admitted from nursing homes, beginning in late November.

"While hand washing and sanitizing is routine at hospitals, MRSA has shown us that these precautionary measures may need supplementation," said Gene Diamond, chief executive officer of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services' Northern Indiana Region.

Researchers at Indiana University at Indianapolis began a study at intensive care units in six hospitals in Indianapolis in January where they routinely screen ICU patients.

In a press release issued by the Methodist Hospitals, officials said the hospital takes a proactive approach to MRSA and staff education is ongoing.