Researchers analyzed the effect of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus decolonization on MSSA infection incidence and the prevalence of mupirocin resistance in a new study published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
To conduct the study, researchers identified neonates admitted to a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit between April 2011 and September 2014 and compared rates of MSSA-positive cultures and infections before and after implementation of an active surveillance culture and decolonization intervention.
Here are five highlights from the study.
1. Before the intervention, 1,523 neonates were admitted to the NICU, for a total of 29,220 patient days. After the intervention, 1,195 neonates were admitted to the NICU, for 22,045 patient days.
2. Immediately after implementing the intervention, the average quarterly incidence rate of NICU-attributable MSSA-positive clinical cultures decreased by 64 percent.
3. MSSA-positive culture rates continued to decrease by 21 percent per quarter after the intervention implementation.
4. Additionally, MSSA infections decreased by 73 percent immediately following the intervention implementation.
5. The researchers detected no mupirocin resistance throughout the study, so active surveillance cultures and decolonization may truly be effective measures to decrease S. aureus infections in NICUs.
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