title: How often do asymptomatic healthcare workers cause methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus outbreaks? A systematic evaluation.
abstract: A systematic search was performed to identify outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection and colonization caused by healthcare workers (HCWs). Of 191 outbreaks identified, 11 had strong epidemiological evidence that HCWs were the source. In 3 of these outbreaks, asymptomatic carriers were the cause. The frequent practice of screening asymptomatic HCWs should be reconsidered.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Vonberg.Ralf@MH-Hannover.DE
authors.forename: Ralf-Peter
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Vonberg
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stamm-Balderjahn
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zuschneid
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ruden
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Behnke
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gastmeier
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000635:transmission*