Dr. Jim Wilde, Medical Director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at MCG Health System and Medical Director of Georgia United Against Antibiotic Resistant Disease, will meet with representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state health department to discuss a statewide education plan and recommendations on how physicians in Georgia should best treat antibiotic-resistant disease.

Dr. Wilde and other physicians across the country have recently seen a sharp rise in a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria called community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or CA-MRSA. An older, related strain of MRSA has plagued hospital wards for decades. Both are resistant to most commonly prescribed antibiotics. CA-MRSA primarily attacks healthy individuals with no underlying health problems. “This is a new bug that was not around five years ago that has spread because of the inappropriate use of antibiotics,” said Dr. Wilde.

Often mistaken for a spider bite or boil, it causes abscesses or pus pockets under the patient’s skin and can lead to paralysis, even death. “In just five years, it has spread worldwide,” said Dr. Wilde. Antibiotics inappropriately prescribed for non-bacterial infections such as colds, flu and acute bronchitis have led to the development of resistant bacteria such as CA-MRSA.

The meeting will cover antibiotic education and appropriate treatment for CA-MRSA. It takes place in Atlanta on Thursday, September 22.

GUARD’s goals are to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant disease and save antibiotic effectiveness by decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use throughout the state of Georgia through the collaborative efforts of professional, academic, community, government, labor and industry partners. For more information, visit www.guard-ga.org.

MCG Health System is composed of three separate organizations -- MCG Health, Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation. The physicians of MCG Health System are community physicians, faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia, or employees of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation, not employees of MCG Health, Inc.  MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Medical Center, MCG Children’s Medical Center, the MCG Sports Medicine Center, MCG Ambulatory Care Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services. MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by providing an environment for faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation and community physicians to deliver the highest level of primary and specialty health care.  For more information, please visit www.MCGHealth.org.