title: Colonization by Staphylococcus species resistant to methicillin or quinolone on hands of medical personnel in a skilled-nursing facility.
abstract: We report here a pilot survey of colonization with methicillin- and/or ciprofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus species on hands of nursing personnel in a private skilled-nursing facility. We found only one nurses aide who carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and one who carried ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus, each on only one of the surveys. None of the control nonmedical personnel were found to carry methicillin-resistant S. aureus or ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus. The colonization rate of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci on the hands of medical personnel was 59%, compared with 13% for the nonmedical personnel, and the counts of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci were also significantly higher for nursing personnel. For ciprofloxacin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci, 30% of nursing personnel had positive cultures whereas no ciprofloxacin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci strains were recovered from the nonmedical control cohort. Three of the patients had presumptive infections with methicillin- or ciprofloxacin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci, all urinary tract infections. Personnel hands represent a likely mode of transmission of such strains between patients, and skilled-nursing facility patients may represent a reservoir for carrying the coagulase-negative staphylococci back to acute care facilities.
authors.affiliation: Academic Geriatric Resource Center, University of California Irvine.
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cesario
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nothvogel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nassar
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farsad
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thrupp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008503:Medical Staff; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009728:Nursing Assistants; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D002939:Ciprofloxacin