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Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Publication Info

Article DOI: 10.1086/502213
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502213
SHEA Guideline for Preventing Nosocomial Transmission of Multidrug‐Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus • 
Carlene A. Muto , MD, MS, John A. Jernigan , MD, MS, Belinda E. Ostrowsky , MD, MPH, Hervé M. Richet , MD, William R. Jarvis , MD, John M. Boyce , MD and Barry M. Farr , MD, MSc
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology , Vol. 24, No. 5 (May 2003), pp. 362-386
Article DOI: 10.1086/502213
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502213
Special Report

SHEA Guideline for Preventing Nosocomial Transmission of Multidrug‐Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus

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Abstract(back to top)

BACKGROUND.  Infection control programs were created three decades ago to control antibiotic‐resistant healthcare‐associated infections, but there has been little evidence of control in most facilities. After long, steady increases of MRSA and VRE infections in NNIS System hospitals, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Board of Directors made reducing antibiotic‐resistant infections a strategic SHEA goal in January 2000. After 2 more years without improvement, a SHEA task force was appointed to draft this evidence‐based guideline on preventing nosocomial transmission of such pathogens, focusing on the two considered most out of control: MRSA and VRE.

METHODS.  Medline searches were conducted spanning 1966 to 2002. Pertinent abstracts of unpublished studies providing sufficient data were included.

RESULTS.  Frequent antibiotic therapy in healthcare settings provides a selective advantage for resistant flora, but patients with MRSA or VRE usually acquire it via spread. The CDC has long‐recommended contact precautions for patients colonized or infected with such pathogens. Most facilities have required this as policy, but have not actively identified colonized patients with surveillance cultures, leaving most colonized patients undetected and unisolated. Many studies have shown control of endemic and/or epidemic MRSA and VRE infections using surveillance cultures and contact precautions, demonstrating consistency of evidence, high strength of association, reversibility, a dose gradient, and specificity for control with this approach. Adjunctive control measures are also discussed.

CONCLUSION. Active surveillance cultures are essential to identify the reservoir for spread of MRSA and VRE infections and make control possible using the CDC’s long‐recommended contact precautions.

Bibliographic Information(back to top)

  • SHEA Guideline for Preventing Nosocomial Transmission of Multidrug‐Resistant Strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus
  • Carlene A. Muto , MD, MS, John A. Jernigan , MD, MS, Belinda E. Ostrowsky , MD, MPH, Hervé M. Richet , MD, William R. Jarvis , MD, John M. Boyce , MD and Barry M. Farr , MD, MSc
  • Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
  • Vol. 24, No. 5 (May 2003) (pp. 362-386)

Author Information(back to top)

Carlene A. Muto , MD, MS; John A. Jernigan , MD, MS; Belinda E. Ostrowsky , MD, MPH; Hervé M. Richet , MD, William R. Jarvis , MD; John M. Boyce , MD; Barry M. Farr , MD, MSc

Notes and References(back to top)

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Notes

Dr. Muto is from the Division of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, UPMC‐P, and the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Jernigan is from the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Ostrowsky is from the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Richet is from the Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France. Dr. Jarvis is from the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Boyce is from the Division of Hospital Epidemiology, Hospital of St. Raphael, and Infectious Diseases, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Farr is from the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia. This article was coauthored by William Jarvis and John Jernigan in their private capacities. No official support or endorsement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is intended or should be inferred. Dr. Ostrowsky is currently with the Westchester County Department of Health, Westchester, New York.Address reprint requests to Carlene A. Muto, MD, MS, Director of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center ‐ Presbyterian, 3471 Fifth Street, 1215 Kaufmann Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.The authors thank the following reviewers for their time and expert advice: Marc Bonten, MD, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Stephan Harbarth, MD, MS, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; William J. Martone, MD, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland; Didier Pittet, MD, MS, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Andrew E. Simor, MD, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Andreas Widmer, MD, MS, Kantonspital Basel University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.

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© 2003 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.