title: [Which rate describes the MRSA situation appropriately?].
abstract: In hospitals the pathogen MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) causes wound infections, sepsis and respiratory tract infections at an increasing number of patients. This prolongs the length of stay and results in additional high costs. Even worse is the fact that MRSA infections have been associated with a higher mortality than MSSA (methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus) infections. The steadily increasing number of patients with MRSA in German hospitals requires an objective description of the situation using reliable data. This article explains the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of expressing MRSA rates of infection and discusses which describes best the occurrence of MRSA in different situations.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Krankenhaushygiene, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gastmeier
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Chaberny
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008712:Methicillin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000635:transmission; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D008712:Methicillin