According to a report, put forth by the researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a noticeable decline in cases pertaining to blood infections caused by MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - in the intensive care units of hospitals, thanks to their preventive efforts.

Published in the February 18 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, the report, based on figures from almost 600 hospitals, affirms a 50 percent fall in the rates of MRSA bloodstream infections associated with intravenous tubes, during the period from 1997 to 2007.

MRSA, a fatal drug-resistant staph "superbug", can cause severe infections - including the difficult-to-cure blood infections - in hospitalized people; as well as grave skin infections in healthy people who may not have been lately hospitalized.

Lead researcher Dr. Deron C. Burton said that since 2001, all adult ICUs have noted a dramatic 50 to 70 percent fall in the risk of bloodstream infections caused by MRSA. Most of these infections result from the use of central line catheters - which are placed in a large blood vessel, with their tip close to the heart or in the aorta or jugular vein.

Burton said that with regard to catheters, "there has been improvement in the sterility of how they are inserted and how they are cared for while they are in the patient."