Rhode Island Hospital Study Identifies High-Risk Patient Populations for MRSA Carriage

Article

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A study presented yesterday at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) annual meeting found that patients in long-term elder care and HIV-infected outpatients appear to be high-risk groups for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common cause for healthcare-associated infections. 

MRSA can be spread in the healthcare environment and community and can cause serious infections, said lead investigator Leonard Mermel, MD, medical director of the department of epidemiology and infection control at Rhode Island Hospital. Identifying patient populations that have a high risk of MRSA carriage is important in our efforts to control the spread of this microbe among patients.

In the prospective, multi-center trial, which was funded by 3M Health Care, clinical nasal swabs were collected from various patient groups at 11 US sites, including inpatients screened for MRSA through active surveillance, inpatients and outpatients requiring hemodialysis, inpatients and outpatients with HIV-infection, pre-op cardiac surgery patients, and patients admitted from long-term elder care. 

Among patients at facilities that did not regularly screen for MRSA, prevalence of MRSA was highest in patients admitted from long-term care (18 percent) and HIV-infected outpatients  (17 percent), suggesting these patient populations are at especially high risk of MRSA carriage. In addition, this trial is the first to look at the quantity of MRSA in the nares of different patient populations.

Currently, the standard method to detect carriage of MRSA is by routine culture whereby results can take several days. Delayed results can lead to MRSA transmission since potential MRSA carriers are often not isolated from patients without MRSA until these results are available.

Source: Rhode Island Hospital

Newsletter

Stay prepared and protected with Infection Control Today's newsletter, delivering essential updates, best practices, and expert insights for infection preventionists.

Recent Videos
David J. Weber, MD, MPH, president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Brenna Doran PhD, MA, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention for the University of California, San Francisco, and a coach and consultant of infection prevention; Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, director of infection prevention and control for Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Shanina Knighton, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and senior nurse scientist at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio
Brenna Doran PhD, MA, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention for the University of California, San Francisco, and a coach and consultant of infection prevention; Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, director of infection prevention and control for Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Shanina Knighton, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and senior nurse scientist at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.