Screening programs
Patient screening upon hospital admission, with nasal cultures, prevents the cohabitation of MRSA carriers with non-carriers, and exposure to infected surfaces. The test used (whether a rapid molecular method or traditional culture) is not as important as the implementation of active screening. In the United States and Canada, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines on October 19, 2006, citing the need for additional research, but declined to recommend such screening.
In some UK hospitals screening for MRSA is performed in every patientand all NHS surgical patients, except for minor surgeries, are previous checked for MRSA. There is no community screening in the UK however screening of individuals is offered by some private companies
In a US cohort of 1300 healthy children, 2.4% carried MRSA in their nose
Surface sanitizing
Alcohol has been proven to be an effective surface sanitizer against MRSA. Quaternary ammonium can be used in conjunction with alcohol to extend the longevity of the sanitizing action. The prevention of nosocomial infections involves routine and terminal cleaning. Non-flammable Alcohol Vapor in Carbon Dioxide systems (NAV-CO2) do not corrode metals or plastics used in medical environments and do not contribute to antibacterial resistance.
In healthcare environments, MRSA can survive on surfaces and fabrics, including privacy curtains or garments worn by care providers. Complete surface sanitation is necessary to eliminate MRSA in areas where patients are recovering from invasive procedures. Testing patients for MRSA upon admission, isolating MRSA-positive patients, decolonization of MRSA-positive patients, and terminal cleaning of patients' rooms and all other clinical areas they occupy is the current best practice protocol for nosocomial MRSA.
Hand washing
At the end of August 2004, after a successful pilot scheme to tackle MRSA, the UK National Health Service announced its Clean Your Hands campaign. Wards were required to ensure that alcohol-based hand rubs are placed near all beds so that staff can hand wash more regularly. It is thought that even if this cuts infection by no more than 1%, the plan will pay for itself many times over.[citation needed]
As with some other bacteria, MRSA is acquiring more resistance to some disinfectants and antiseptics. Although alcohol-based rubs remain somewhat effective, a more effective strategy is to wash hands with running water and an anti-microbial cleanser with persistent killing action, such as Chlorhexidine
A June 2008 report[citation needed], centered on a survey by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, concluded that poor hygiene habits remain the principal barrier to significant reductions in the spread of MRSA.
Essential oil diffusion
An in vitro study on the inhibition of MRSA by essential oil diffusion found that 72 of 91 investigated essential oils exhibited zones of inhibition in soy agar plates streaked with MRSA (strain ATCC 700699). The most effective being lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon flexuosus), lemon myrtle oil (Backhousia citriodora), mountain savory oil (Satureja montana), cinnamon oil (Cinnamomum verum), and melissa oil (Melissa officinalis) essential oils. Of these, lemongrass essential oil was the most effective, completely inhibiting all MRSA colony growth.
Tea tree oil also kills all MRSA strains that have been tested.
Decolonization
After the drainage of boils or other treatment for MRSA, patients can shower at home using chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) or hexachlorophene (Phisohex) antiseptic soap from head to toe, and apply mupirocin (Bactroban) 2% ointment inside each nostril twice daily for 7 days, using a cotton-tipped swab. Household members are recommended to follow the same decolonization protocol.
Doctors may also prescribe antibiotics such as clindamycin, doxycycline or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. However, there is very little evidence that using more antibiotics actually has the effect of preventing recurrent MRSA skin infections.
Proper disposal of hospital gowns
Used paper hospital gowns are associated with MRSA hospital infections, which could be avoided by proper disposal.
Isolation
Current US guidance does not require workers in the general workplace (excluding medical facilities) with MRSA infections to be routinely excluded from going to work. Therefore, unless directed by a health care provider, exclusion from work should be reserved for those with wound drainage that cannot be covered and contained with a clean, dry bandage and for those who cannot maintain good hygiene practices. Workers with active infections should be excluded from activities where skin-to-skin contact is likely to occur until their infections are healed. Health care workers should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guidelines for Infection Control in Health Care Personnel.
To prevent the spread of staph or MRSA in the workplace, employers should ensure the availability of adequate facilities and supplies that encourage workers to practice good hygiene; that surface sanitizing in the workplace is followed; and that contaminated equipment are sanitized with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered disinfectants.
Restricting antibiotic us
Glycopeptides, cephalosporins and in particular quinolones are associated with an increased risk of colonisation of MRSA. Reducing use of antibiotic classes that promote MRSA colonisation, especially fluoroquinolones, is recommended in current guidelines
Public health considerations
Mathematical models describe one way in which a loss of infection control can occur after measures for screening and isolation seem to be effective for years, as happened in the UK. In the "search and destroy" strategy that was employed by all UK hospitals until the mid-1990s, all patients with MRSA were immediately isolated, and all staff were screened for MRSA and were prevented from working until they had completed a course of eradication therapy that was proven to work. Loss of control occurs because colonised patients are discharged back into the community and then readmitted; when the number of colonised patients in the community reaches a certain threshold, the "search and destroy" strategy is overwhelmed. One of the few countries not to have been overwhelmed by MRSA is the Netherlands: An important part of the success of the Dutch strategy may have been to attempt eradication of carriage upon discharge from hospital.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year in the United States there are about 1.7 million nosocomial infections in hospitals and 99,000 associated deaths. The estimated incidence is 4.5 nosocomial infections per 100 admissions, with direct costs (at 2004 prices) ranging from $10,500 (£5300, €8000 at 2006 rates) per case (for bloodstream, urinary tract, or respiratory infections in immunocompetent patients) to $111,000 (£57,000, €85,000) per case for antibiotic-resistant infections in the bloodstream in patients with transplants. With these numbers, conservative estimates of the total direct costs of nosocomial infections are above $17 billion. The reduction of such infections forms an important component of efforts to improve healthcare safety. (BMJ 2007)[citation needed]
This problem is not unique to one country; the British National Audit Office estimated that the incidence of nosocomial infections in Europe ranges from 4% to 10% of all hospital admissions. As of early 2005, the number of deaths in the United Kingdom attributed to MRSA has been estimated by various sources to lie in the area of 3,000 per year. Staphylococcus bacteria account for almost half of all UK hospital infections. The issue of MRSA infections in hospitals has recently been a major political issue in the UK, playing a significant role in the debates over health policy in the United Kingdom general election held in 2005.
On January 6, 2008, half of 64 non-Chinese cases of MRSA infections in Hong Kong in 2007 were Filipino domestic helpers. Ho Pak-leung, professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, traced the cause to high use of antibiotics. In 2007, there were 166 community cases in Hong Kong compared with 8,000 hospital-acquired MRSA case (155 recorded cases — 91 involved Chinese locals, 33 Filipinos, 5 each for Americans and Indians, and 2 each from Nepal, Australia, Denmark and England).
Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people carry some form of S. aureus; of these, up to 53 million (2.7% of carriers) are thought to carry MRSA. In the United States, 95 million carry S. aureus in their noses; of these, 2.5 million (2.6% of carriers) carry MRSA. A population review conducted in three U.S. communities showed the annual incidence of CA-MRSA during 2001–2002 to be 18–25.7/100,000; most CA-MRSA isolates were associated with clinically relevant infections, and 23% of patients required hospitalization.
One possible contribution to the increased spread of MRSA infections comes from the use of antibiotics in intensive pig farming. A 2008 study in Canada found MRSA in 10% of tested pork chops and ground pork; a U.S. study in the same year found MRSA in the noses of 70% of the tested farm pigs and in 45% of the tested pig farm workers. There have also been anecdotal reports of increased MRSA infection rates in rural communities with pig farms.
Healthcare facilities with high bed occupancy rates, high levels of temporary nursing staff, or low cleanliness scores no longer have significantly higher MRSA rates. Simple tabular evidence helps provide a clear picture of these changes, showing, for instance, that hospitals with occupancy over 90% had, in 2006–2007, MRSA rates little above those in hospitals with occupancy below 85%, in contrast to the period 2001-2004. In one sense, the disappearance of these relationships is puzzling. Reporters now blame IV cannula and catheters for spreading MRSA in hospitals. (Hospital organisation and speciality mix, 2008)
