Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitals: time for a culture change

Collignon, Peter J; Grayson, M Lindsay; Johnson, Paul D R

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb01518.x

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In reply: We thank Woollard for his comments on hand hygiene. While important, hand hygiene is just one component of what is needed to decrease the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals. Decontamination of the environment, contact precautions for colonised patients, active surveillance and screening, effective programs to prevent common infections such as intravascular catheter sepsis, good antibiotic stewardship and better hospital design are also indispensable.1

1 Infectious Diseases Unit and Microbiology Department, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT.
2 Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC.
3 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
4 Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: Peter.Collignon@act.gov.au

1. Collignon PJ, Grayson ML, Johnson PDR. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitals: time for a culture change [editorial]. Med J Aust 2007; 187: 4-5. <MJA full text>
2. Johnson PDR, Martin R, Burrell LJ, et al. Efficacy of an alcohol/chlorhexidine hand hygiene program in a hospital with high rates of nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Med J Aust 2005; 183: 509-514. <MJA full text>
3. Pittet D, Hugonnet S, Harbarth S, et al. Effectiveness of a hospital-wide programme to improve compliance with hand hygiene. Infection Control Programme. Lancet 2000; 356: 1307-1312.
4. National Health and Medical Research Council. NHMRC additional levels of evidence and grades for recommendations for developers of guidelines. Pilot program 2005–2007. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/consult/_files/levels_grades05.pdf (accessed Aug 2007).
5. Collignon P, Nimmo GR, Gottlieb T, Gosbell IB; Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, Australia. Emerg Infect Dis 2005; 11: 554-561.
6. Nimmo GR, Pearson JC, Collignon PJ, et al. Prevalence of MRSA among Staphylococcus aureus isolated from hospital inpatients, 2005: report from the Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance. Commun Dis Intell 2007; 31: 288-296.

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