Evaluation of screening risk and nonrisk patients for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on admission in an acute care hospital.

Background: Screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylocccus aureus (MRSA) is advocated as part of control measures, but screening all patients on admission to hospital may not be cost-effective.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the additional yield of screening all patients on admission compared with only patients with risk factors and to assess cost aspects.

Methods: A prospective, nonrandomized observational study of screening nonrisk patients ≤72 hours of admission compared with only screening patients with risk factors over 3 years in a tertiary referral hospital was conducted.

The effect of rapid screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the identification and earlier isolation of MRSA-positive patients.

Objectives: (1) To determine whether rapid screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays leads to the earlier isolation of patients at risk for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization, (2) to assess compliance with routine MRSA screening protocols, (3) to confirm the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MRSA real-time PCR assay (Cepheid) by comparison with culture, and (4) to compare turnaround times for PCR assay results with those for culture results.

Design: Before-and-after study conducted in a 700-bed acute tertiary care referral hospital. Study periods were (1) a 5-week period before PCR testing began, (2) a 10-week period when the PCR assay was used, and (3) a 5-week period after PCR testing was discontinued.