MRSA diversity and the emergence of LA-MRSA in a large teaching hospital in Slovenia.

The methicillin-resistant (MRSA) is one of the major causes of a variety of infections in hospitals and the community. One of the most prominent changes in the MRSA epidemiology is the emergence of livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) strains in the human population. The aim of this study was to follow the MRSA epidemiology in a large teaching hospital during an 8-year time period (2006-2013).

The evaluation of MRSA surveillance cultures by the number and combinations of anatomical sites.

Introduction: The identification of patients infected and/or colonised by methicillin resistant (MRSA) is necessary for the timely introduction of measures for infection control. We compared the diagnostic efficacy of combinations of MRSA surveillance swabs routinely taken by health institutions in the country.

Methods: All surveillance samples, which were sent for a microbiological analysis to detect MRSA with the culture method in 2014, in the three departments for medical microbiology of the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, were included in this study.