title: A model of drug resistance with infection by health care workers.
abstract: Antibiotic resistant organisms (ARO) pose an increasing serious threat in hospitals. One of the most life threatening ARO is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In this paper, we introduced a new mathematical model which focuses on the evolution of two bacterial strains, drug-resistant and non-drug resistant, residing within the population of patients and health care workers in a hospital. The model predicts that as soon as drug is administered, the average load of the non-resistant bacteria will decrease and eventually (after 6 weeks of the model's simulation) reach a very low level. However, the average load of drug-resistant bacteria will initially decrease, after treatment, but will later bounce back and remain at a high level. This level can be made lower if larger amount of drug is given or if the contact between health care workers and patients is reduced.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Department of Mathematics, Columbus, OH 43210, United States. afriedman@math.ohio-state.edu
authors.forename: Avner
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Najat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ziyadi
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boushaba
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000635:transmission; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D008954:Models, Biological; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents