Deadline for MRSA Prevalence Survey Participation is Extended

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announces that the deadline for participation in the 2010 MRSA Prevalence Survey has been extended to December 31, 2010 due to the high number of APIC members expressing the need for additional time. To access the survey, CLICK HERE.

APIC says that the 2010 MRSA Prevalence Survey is a tremendously important tool. First, it is the only MRSA survey that is specifically targeting infection preventionists, who know what the MRSA infection rates are and which MRSA infection control practices are in place.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that invasive MRSA rates may be declining. However, there are important differences between the CDC study and the APIC study. For example, the CDC study is focused on invasive MRSA (primarily bloodstream infections), and includes only a convenience sample of nine large metropolitan areas. That study uses the general geographic population as the denominator to calculate the infection rate, and then extrapolates these data to the entire United States.

In contrast, the APIC survey is sent to infection preventionists at hospitals throughout the U.S. (from large to small metropolitan areas, cities and rural areas), and includes all MRSA infection sites and colonization, as well as uses the hospital population on the day of the survey as the denominator to calculate the MRSA infection rate. Further, APICs survey includes information on the infection control practices being used at each facility. Only with such detailed data can we more accurately determine the secular trend in MRSA infection rates in U.S. hospitals.

APIC says that although it would like all participants to complete the entire survey, only three questions are absolutely essential: numbers 2, 4E and 14. The responses to these questions will allow APIC to calculate the MRSA prevalence rate and link it to the state level. No hospital or patient identifiers are being collected in this survey, so there are no HIPPA issues with which to deal.