Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 525-528, November 2008

A Prevalence Study of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Emergency Department Health Care Workers

Presented at the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Scientific Assembly, March 2007, Las Vegas, NV.

  • April Bisaga, DO

      Affiliations

    • Advocate Christ Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oak Lawn, IL
    • ,
  • Katherine Paquette, MD

      Affiliations

    • Advocate Christ Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oak Lawn, IL
    • ,
  • Linda Sabatini, PhD, HCLD

      Affiliations

    • ACL Illinois Central Laboratory, Department of Molecular Pathology, Rosemont, IL
    • ,
  • Elise O. Lovell, MD

      Affiliations

    • Advocate Christ Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oak Lawn, IL
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Elise O. Lovell, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Room 185-W, Advocate Christ Medical Center, 440 West 95th Street, Oak Lawn, IL 60453; 708-684-5375, fax 708-684-1028

Received 13 December 2007; received in revised form 21 February 2008 and 11 March 2008; accepted 21 March 2008. published online 25 April 2008.

Study objective

Few studies of the prevalence of nasal colonization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in emergency department (ED) health care workers have been conducted. To better understand the epidemiology of this pathogen, we seek to determine the MRSA nasal colonization rates in the ED health care workers in our hospital.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study on a convenience sample of ED health care workers, including nurses, physicians, and technicians. Nasal swabs from subjects were analyzed with a polymerase chain reaction assay for the presence of MRSA.

Results

Of the 105 ED health care workers enrolled, a total of 16 (15%, 95% confidence interval 9.6% to 23%) were MRSA positive. No significant difference was observed in colonization rates between nurses, physicians, and technicians.

Conclusion

Our ED health care workers demonstrated a high prevalence of nasal MRSA colonization compared with individuals in recent community surveillance and other studies involving ED staff.

 

 Supervising editor: David A. Talan, MD

 Author contributions: AB and EOL created the hypothesis, designed the study, analyzed the data, and had main responsibility for interpreting the results and writing the article. AB, KP, and EOL performed data collection. LS assisted with background information, interpreting the results, and editing the article. EL takes responsibility for the paper as a whole.

 Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article, that might create any potential conflict of interest. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement. Funding was provided by the Advocate Christ Emergency Department Research Fund, Cepheid, and ACL Laboratory in Rosemont, IL.

 Publication dates: Available online April 24, 2008.

 Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(08)00611-2

doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.03.019

Refers to article:

  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization Among Health Care Personnel in the Emergency Department: What Does It Tell Us?

    John A. Jernigan
    Annals of Emergency Medicine November 2008 (Vol. 52, Issue 5, Pages 534-536)

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 525-528, November 2008