Colonization by Staphylococcus species resistant to methicillin or quinolone on hands of medical personnel in a skilled-nursing facility.
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.
Lee
Y L
YL
Academic Geriatric Resource Center, University of California Irvine.
Cesario
T
T
Lee
R
R
Nothvogel
S
S
Nassar
J
J
Farsad
N
N
Thrupp
L
L
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
D002939:Ciprofloxacin