Staphylococcus aureus resistente a meticilina en un servicio de urgencias hospitalarias de un departamento de salud de la Comunidad Valenciana

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the percentage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients admitted from an emergency department of the Hospital Lluís Alcanyís de Xàtiva (Valencia), Spain, from January to June 2012. MethodThe data were collected using a questionnaire with the following items: age, sex, personal history, previous antibiotic treatment, previous hospital admission, and origin. The emergency department doctors used swabs moistened with physiological saline (TranSystems® COPAN) to collect the material from the nasal cavity of the cited patients. ResultsA total of 120 patients with a high risk of MRSA colonisation were studied. Positive isolation of MRSA was detected in 19 (15.83%) patients, of whom 52.63% were women, with a median age of 66.6 years. Only 5 (26.31%) patients had taken antibiotics previously, 4 (21.05%) had a previous admission, 7 (36.84%) were from homes for the elderly, 12 (63.15%) were from home, 4 (21.05%) had morbid obesity, 9 (47.36%) suffered from diabetes mellitus, 6 (31.57%) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and none of them were allergic to beta-lactams. ConclusionsThe proportion of infections due to MRSA was 16%. Active surveillance cultures must be considered in patients with a high risk of MRSA colonisation and admitted from emergency departments.