title: Communicating the Risk of MRSA: The Role of Clinical Practice, Regulation and Other Policies in Five European Countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The threat posed by Meticillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) has taken on an increasingly pan-European dimension. This article aims to provide an overview of the different approaches to the control of MRSA adopted in five European countries (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK) and discusses data and reporting mechanisms, regulations, guidelines, and health policy approaches with a focus on risk communication. Our hypothesis is that current infection control practices in different European countries are implicit messages that contribute to the health-related risk communication and subsequently to the public perception of risk posed by MRSA. A reporting template was used to systematically collect information from each country.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Large variation in approaches was observed between countries. However, there were a number of consistent themes relevant to the communication of key information regarding MRSA, including misleading messages, inconsistencies in content and application of published guidelines, and frictions between the official communication and their adoption on provider level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The variability of recommendations within, and across, countries could be contributing to the perception of inconsistency. Having inconsistent guidelines and practices in place may also be affecting the level at which recommended behaviors are adopted. The discrepancy between the official, explicit health messages around MRSA and the implicit messages stemming from the performance of infection control measures should, therefore, be a key target for those wishing to improve risk communication.
authors.affiliation: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), LSE Health, London, UK; dickmann risk communication (drc), London, UK; Department for Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dickmann
authors.affiliation: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), LSE Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keeping
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, School for Public Health and Primary Care (Caphri) of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands; Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Döring
authors.affiliation: Austrian Public Health Institute Ltd. , Vienna , Austria.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research , Vienna , Austria.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Hospital General Granollers , Granollers , Spain.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ariño-Blasco
authors.affiliation: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Hospital General Granollers, Granollers, Spain; Department of Economics and BEAT Research Institute, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gil
keywords: health policy; health-care-associated infections; infection control; meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; risk communication