title: Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus control in an intensive care unit: a 10 year analysis.
abstract: Data regarding the efficacy of programmes to control meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in intensive care units (ICUs) are limited. We performed an observational 'before-and-after' study to evaluate the search-and-destroy (S&D) strategy as compared with S&D and isolation (SDI), to control MRSA in a general ICU. S&D included active surveillance, contact precautions and treatment of carriers; in SDI, isolation or cohorting were added. Three phases were identified: period 1 (p1), 1996-1997, before the introduction of programme; period 2 (p2), 1998-2002, with S&D programme; period 3 (p3), 2003-2005, with SDI in a new ICU. During the 10 years of the study we observed 3978 patients; 667, 1995 and 1316 patients in p1, p2 and p3 respectively. The numbers of MRSA-infected patients were 19 in p1, 23 in p2, and 6 in p3. The infection rate was 3.5, 1.7 and 0.7 cases per 1000 patient-days in p1, p2 and p3, respectively; a significant reduction was observed between p1 vs p2 (P=0.024) and p2 vs p3 (P=0.048), although the latter was not confirmed by a segmented regression analysis. The proportion of ICU-acquired MRSA cases was 80%, 77% and 52% during p1, p2 and p3, respectively (P=0.0001 for trend). The proportion of S. aureus isolates resistant to meticillin was 51%, 32% and 23% during p1, p2 and p3, respectively (P<0.0001 for trend). S&D strategy was effective in significantly reducing MRSA infection, transmission rates and proportion of meticillin resistance in an ICU with endemic MRSA. SDI may further enhance S&D efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Servizio di Terapie Intensive, Istituti Ospitalieri di Cremona, Cremona, Italy. rainerineto@libero.it
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Raineri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crema
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Silvestri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acquarolo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Albertario
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carnevale
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Latronico
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petrosillo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tinelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zoncada
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008875:Middle Aged; D010356:Patient Isolation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000472:pathogenicity