Prevalence of MRSA in elective day case pediatric ENT surgical patients.
OBJECTIVE
Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a common pathogen implicated in hospital acquired infection. Routine preoperative screening for MRSA is current health policy in England and Wales, although children undergoing elective, routine ENT surgery are excluded from this policy. We prospectively assessed a cohort of children admitted for elective ENT surgery to assess this policy.


METHODS
We examined 348 pre-operative children having routine ENT operations to assess MRSA carriage.


RESULTS
We found bacteriological evidence of MRSA in only one child of the 348 tested.


CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the current policy and has implications for other countries.
Department of Otolaryngology, Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 7EG, UK. peter.robb@esth.nhs.uk
Peter J
PJ
Robb
Justin
J
Bendig
D000293:Adolescent; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009093:Mucus / Q000382:microbiology; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures