Loading...
Eliminating hospital-acquired, antibiotic-resistant infections has long bedeviled epidemiologists, especially in the close quarters of intensive care units (ICUs). Several studies in 2013 emphasized the elusiveness of this goal.
The standard of care in most hospitals calls for screening patients at ICU admission for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or other resistant organisms and then placing colonized patients in contact isolation. However, the supporting evidence is not particularly strong (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 11 2008 and NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 25 2008).
In one 2013 study, investigators evaluated expanding use of contact precautions to all patients rather than just those who were colonized or infected (NEJM JW In…