title: Implications of targeted versus universal admission screening for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage in a London hospital.
abstract: Universal admission screening for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been performed in England since 2010. We evaluated the predictive performance of a regression model derived from the first year of universal screening for detecting MRSA at hospital admission. If we had used our previous targeted screening policy, 75% fewer patients (21,699 per year) would have been screened. However, this would have identified only ~55% of all MRSA carriers, 65% of healthcare-associated MRSA strains, and 40% of community-associated strains. Failing to identify ~45% of patients (262 per year) carrying MRSA at hospital admission may have implications for MRSA control.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR), Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, UK. Electronic address: jonathan.otter@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Otter
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR), Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, UK.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tosas-Auguet
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Infectious Diseases, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Herdman
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Infectious Diseases, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Directorate of Infectious Diseases, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR), Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, UK.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Edgeworth
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR), Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, UK.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Admission; Carriage; Colonization; Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Prevalence; Screening