Does a preliminary surveillance study enhance formulation of a comrehensive MRSA containment action plan? Study from a large district hospital in northwest England
Abstract number: 1733_804
Ambalkar S., Palmer R., Guleri A.
Objectives: Hospital MRSA control policy is based on national guidelines. Certain specialities are associated with higher than desirable MRSA bacteraemia rates. This requires targeted action plans to be designed for such areas. This study was carried out to evaluate if conducting a preliminary surveillance study would help in optimal planning and design of action plans for MRSA hotspots in the hospital.
Method: 53 MRSA bacteraemia episodes over 1-year (April 2005 through March 2006) were analysed.
Results: 95% of cases were over 50-years of age. Majority (60%) of cases were from medical wards, 25% from surgical, and 12% from intensive care. Majority (75%) were males. Clear information from 37 cases revealed 81% were hospital acquired and remaining from community. Out of 30 cases, 27% were previously known MRSA carriers. 53% of patients died either with or due to MRSA bacteraemia, of whom 38% died sometime within 14-days of bacteraemia. 20% of deaths were before anti MRSA treatment was commenced.
Conclusions: MRSA bacteraemia was more common in >50-years age group, males, hospital acquired and in medical wards. Medical ward has a large number of patient throughput and patients are frequently shifted between wards.
Salient points considered while formulating action plan were: Need for risk stratification, screening of high-risk patients, role of empirical anti MRSA agents in high-risk group, role of rapid diagnostic tests, decolonisation regimes for known/identified MRSA carriers, strict isolation policy, strict intravenous catheter policy, appointing local consultant/matron as infection prevention lead with support from hospital infection control team.
It emerged that conducting a preliminary surveillance study definitely helped identify local deficits and risk factors that contribute to the higher than acceptable MRSA rates in that area.
|Session name:||European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases|
|Location:||ICC, Munich, Germany|
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