title: The screening of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in vascular surgery patients: a comparison of molecular testing and broth-enriched culture.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major global health care-associated pathogen. This study sought to examine the prevalence of MRSA in patients who were admitted to a vascular surgery ward during a 3-month period.
  
  
  METHODS
  MRSA screening was accomplished through the acquisition of nasal, throat and perineal swabs. These swabs were placed in tryptic soy broth that had been supplemented with 6.5% NaCl and incubated for 24 h. The resulting isolates were subcultured on agar plates containing 5% sheep blood. The BD GeneOhm MRSA assay for screening swabs was performed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 58 patients were included in the study and swabs from 232 sites were obtained during the sampling period. MRSA was detected in 33 samples of 12 patients during the study period; thus, there was a 20.6% prevalence of patients who were recognized as MRSA carriers. There were discrepancies between the results of classical bacteriological screening and molecular MRSA detection methods in 8 of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nasal, throat and perineal MRSA screening can detect the carriage of this pathogen and allow for the timely use of appropriate infection control measures. The choice of screening techniques poses a challenge; it has been demonstrated that molecular detection methods should be performed with great sensitivity, specificity and, most importantly, speed. The cost of the PCR screening method is the only disadvantage of this approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Zlatko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fiolic
authors.forename: Zrinka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bosnjak
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Snajdar
authors.forename: Andrea Crkvenac
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gregorek
authors.forename: Smilja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalenic
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Budimir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D010502:Perineum / Q000382:microbiology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial