Though local hospitals still see hundreds of cases of drug-resistant staph infections every year, officials hope to see the bug go the way of yellow fever and leprosy very soon.

The number of Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection cases appears to be dropping nationwide.

According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were only about 21 health care-associated MRSA infections per 100,000 people in 2010.

That’s down significantly from 2005, when almost 36 of every 100,000 people contracted the drug-resistant infections.

The federal government wants to get that infection rate down to 13 per 100,000 people by 2013. To achieve that goal, hospitals nationwide are closely monitoring MRSA infections and doing their best to limit new infections.

MRSA first appeared in the 1960s, in Australia. It has since become widespread in hospitals.

Dr. Fred Kerns, an infectious disease specialist at Charleston Area Medical Center, said CAMC sees several thousand staph infections every year, and more than half of those are resistant to antibiotics.

“The rate parallels most of the United States. It’s fairly widespread in most developed countries,” he said.

Kerns said while there are over

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