title: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: The prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at the General Hospital, Port-of-Spain, between June 1995 and May 1996 was determined. The MRSA prevalence rate was 4.6% of all S aureus isolates, with all but one nosocomially acquired. 15 isolates were associated with infections, and three were colonizing strains. 17 of the 18 patients with MRSA had received antibiotics previously, including 13 who had received multiple antibiotics. Skin and soft tissue were the sites of infection and colonization in 12 cases; and surgical wards and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) accounted for 16 MRSA isolates. All isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and all but one were resistant to gentamicin. MRSA occurred sporadically in a wide distribution of wards and physicians' services, although the isolation of three strains from the ICU and three strains from a surgical ward were temporally related. Only one of two deaths was attributable to MRSA. Control of the spread of MRSA in this hospital must include the reinforcement of the appropriate use of antibiotics, hand washing and appropriate isolation of patients in the surgical and intensive care wards.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical Sciences, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mount Hope, Trinidad.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Swanston
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002423:Cause of Death; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005839:Gentamicins; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D010356:Patient Isolation; D015995:Prevalence; D018461:Soft Tissue Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects*; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago / Q000453:epidemiology; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005839:Gentamicins; D014640:Vancomycin