MRSA in the Intensive Care Nursery: A Growing Problem

Between 1993 and 2006, healthcare-associated MRSA strains in one Atlanta facility gave way to MRSA strains of community origin, likely acquired during birth.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in intensive care nurseries (ICNs) are becoming increasingly common. How the organisms enter the ICN and whether the strains are of community origin (CA-MRSA) or healthcare-associated (HA-MRSA) are unclear. To explore these issues, investigators assembled 14 years of data on MRSA strains in one Atlanta ICN.

In January 1993, hospital officials instituted an infection-control protocol targeting MRSA in the ICN: The isolation of MRSA in the clinical cultures of an ICN patient triggered weekly culture surveillance of all infants in the ICN until 4 weeks after discharge of the last infant known to be MRSA-infected or -colonized. Contact precautions were instituted for MRSA-positive inf…

Reviewing Author

Robert S. Baltimore, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInfectious Diseases in Children

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesMember Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease

Robert S. Baltimore, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInfectious Diseases in Children

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesMember Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease

MRSA in the Intensive Care Nursery: A Growing Problem

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Reviewing Author