Active surveillance detects a large proportion of MRSA and Acinetobacter species in the intensive care unit
Julie Wang A and Caroline Marshall B CA Southern Health, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
B Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Grattan St, Parkville and Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: caroline.marshall@mh.org.au
Healthcare Infection 15(4) 115-118 https://doi.org/10.1071/HI10021
Submitted: 12 July 2010 Accepted: 6 September 2010 Published: 20 December 2010
Abstract
Two hundred and ninety-eight patients were screened for Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter sp. before discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU). Swabs were taken from the nose, throat, axilla, groin and rectum. Results were then compared with clinical specimens taken routinely during the study period. Twenty (6.9%) patients were positive for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and nine (3.1%) for Acinetobacter sp. Screening detected more patients than clinical specimens for MRSA and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), but not Acinetobacter sp. If only passive clinical surveillance were performed, 4/15 (26.7%) of Acinetobacter sp., 15/22 (68.2%) of MRSA and 53/60 (88.3%) of MSSA colonised patients would have been missed. Nasal, throat and rectal sites were most sensitive for MSSA and MRSA while groin, axilla and rectum were most sensitive for Acinetobacter sp.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Leanne Redl and Kelly Goom as well as all the nursing staff at the Royal Melbourne Hospital ICU for taking the swabs in this study. We would also like to thank Dawn Giltrap and the staff in the Melbourne Health Microbiology Laboratory.
Financial support for this study was provided by the Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Infectious Diseases (National Health and Medical Research Council).
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