title: Unrecognized burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus carriage in the pediatric intensive care unit.
abstract: Routinely, children's hospitals use data from clinical cultures to estimate the burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) carriage. In our pediatric intensive care unit, a program of weekly surveillance cultures uncovered an unrecognized reservoir of MRSA and VRE carriers. This weekly surveillance enabled more accurate estimates of the incidence rates of MRSA and VRE carriage and led to an increased number of isolation-days for patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. amilsto1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Milstone
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beers
authors.forename: Ivor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Karen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.forename: Trish M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Perl
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance