Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 534-536 , November 2008

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

  • John A. Jernigan, MD, MS

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for reprints: John A. Jernigan, MD, MS, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Mailstop A-31, Atlanta, GA 30333; 404-639-4245, Fax 404-639-4046

References 

  1. Klein E, Smith DL, Laxminarayan R. Hospitalizations and deaths caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, United States, 1999-2005. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007;13:1840–1846
  2. Elixhauser A, Steiner C. Infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in US hospitals, 1993-2005. http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb35.pdfAccessed September 19, 2008.
  3. Moran GJ, Krishnadasan A, Gorwitz RJ, et al. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus infections among patients in the emergency department. N Engl J Med. 2006;355:666–674
  4. Klevens RM, Morrison MA, Nadle J, et al. Invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in the United States. JAMA. 2007;298:1763–1771
  5. Suffoletto BP, Cannon H, Ilkhanipour K, et al. Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization in emergency department personnel. Ann Emerg Med. 2008;52:529–533
  6. Bisaga A, Paquette K, Sabatini L, et al. A prevalence study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in emergency department health care workers. Ann Emerg Med. 2008;52:525–528
  7. Gorwitz RJ, Kruszon-Moran D, McAllister SK, et al. Changes in the prevalence of nasal colonization with Staphylococcus aureus in the United States, 2001-2004. J Infect Dis. 2008;197:1226–1234
  8. Albrich WC, Harbarth S. Health-care workers: source, vector, or victim of MRSA?. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008;8:289–301
  9. Grundmann H, Hori S, Winter B, et al. Risk factors for the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an adult intensive care unit: fitting a model to the data. J Infect Dis. 2002;185:481–488
  10. McBryde ES, Bradley LC, Whitby M, et al. An investigation of contact transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Hosp Infect. 2004;58:104–108
  11. Thompson RL, Cabezudo I, Wenzel RP. Epidemiology of nosocomial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Ann Intern Med. 1982;97:309–317
  12. Cookson B, Peters B, Webster M, et al. Staff carriage of epidemic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1989;27:1471–1476
  13. Johnston CP, Cooper L, Ruby W, et al. Epidemiology of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infections among healthcare workers in an outpatient clinic. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2006;27:1133–1136
  14. Siegel JD, Rhinehart E, Jackson M, et al. Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee Management of multidrug-resistant organisms in healthcare settings, 2006. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/pdf/ar/mdroGuideline2006.pdf
  15. Haas JP, Larson EL. Impact of wearable alcohol gel dispensers on hand hygiene in an emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2008;15:393–396
  16. Larson EL, Albrecht S, O'Keefe M. Hand hygiene behavior in a pediatric emergency department and a pediatric intensive care unit: comparison of use of 2 dispenser systems. Am J Crit Care. 2005;14:304–311; quiz 312.

 Supervising editor: David A. Talan, MD

 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. The author has stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.

 The findings and conclusions in this manuscript are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PII: S0196-0644(08)01723-X

doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.09.001

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 52, Issue 5 , Pages 534-536 , November 2008

Article Tools