Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: Is Control Necessary?

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant strains ofStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) first emerged as important nosocomial pathogens in the United States in the 1980s, and have continued to increase in frequency in subsequent years (Figure 1). By 1997, MRSA caused more than 35 percent of nosocomialS. aureusinfections in hospitals with more than 500 beds, and caused 25% to 30% of such infections in small and medium-sized hospitals, respectively (1). Since the earliest reports of MRSA outbreaks in United States, it has been clear that patients in intensive care units (ICUs) have been at increased risk for developing nosocomial MRSA infections. Many of the early MRSA outbreaks affected patients in the burn units, surgical intensive care units, and neonatal ICUs (2). Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) system demonstrate that the prevalence of MRSA infections continues to be higher in ICUs than on non-ICU wards (3). In 1999, MRSA accounted for 52 percent of nosocomialS. aureusinfections in the ICU patients in NNIS hospitals (4).KeywordsStaphylococcus AureusSurgical Intensive Care UnitNational Nosocomial Infection SurveillanceInfect Control HospInfection Control Practice Advisory CommitteeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.