Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks
Background:Health care worker (HCW) colonization with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a documented cause of hospital outbreaks and contributes to ongoing transmission. At Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) it had been anecdotally noted that the increasing prevalence of EMRSA-15 appeare...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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BioMed Central Ltd.
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45504 |
| _version_ | 1848757303820419072 |
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| author | Hart, J. Christiansen, Keryn Lee, R. Heath, C. Coombs, Geoffrey Robinson, James |
| author_facet | Hart, J. Christiansen, Keryn Lee, R. Heath, C. Coombs, Geoffrey Robinson, James |
| author_sort | Hart, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background:Health care worker (HCW) colonization with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a documented cause of hospital outbreaks and contributes to ongoing transmission. At Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) it had been anecdotally noted that the increasing prevalence of EMRSA-15 appeared to be associated with increased HCW colonization compared with Aus2/3-EMRSA. Hence we compared HCW colonization rates during outbreaks of EMRSA-15 and Aus2/3-EMRSA at a single institution.Methods:We performed a retrospective review of EMRSA-15 and Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks from 2000 –2009 at RPH, a quaternary hospital in Western Australia. Outbreak files were reviewed and relevant data extracted. Results:Ten EMRSA-15 outbreaks were compared with seven Aus2/3 outbreaks. The number of patients colonized was similar between EMRSA-15 and Aus2/ 3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 7 [range 3 – 20] and 11 [5 – 26], respectively; P = 0.07) but the number of HCWs colonized was significantl y higher in EMRSA-15 outbreaks compared to Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 4 [range 0 – 15] and 2 [1-3], respectively; P = 0.013). The percentage of HCWs colonized was also higher in EMRSA-15 outbreaks versus Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 3.4% [range 0 – 5.5%] and 0.81% [0.56 – 2.2%], respectively; P= 0.013).Conclusions:This study demonstrates a higher level of HCW colonization during EMRSA-15 outbreaks compared with Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks. This finding suggests that MRSA vary in their ability to colonize HCWs and contribute to outbreaks. MRSA type should be determined during outbreaks and future research should investigate the mechanisms by which EMRSA-15 contributes to increased HCW colonization. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:25:57Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-45504 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:25:57Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | BioMed Central Ltd. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-455042017-09-13T14:22:51Z Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks Hart, J. Christiansen, Keryn Lee, R. Heath, C. Coombs, Geoffrey Robinson, James Aus2/3-EMRSA Health care workers Outbreak EMRSA-15 Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin resistant Background:Health care worker (HCW) colonization with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a documented cause of hospital outbreaks and contributes to ongoing transmission. At Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) it had been anecdotally noted that the increasing prevalence of EMRSA-15 appeared to be associated with increased HCW colonization compared with Aus2/3-EMRSA. Hence we compared HCW colonization rates during outbreaks of EMRSA-15 and Aus2/3-EMRSA at a single institution.Methods:We performed a retrospective review of EMRSA-15 and Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks from 2000 –2009 at RPH, a quaternary hospital in Western Australia. Outbreak files were reviewed and relevant data extracted. Results:Ten EMRSA-15 outbreaks were compared with seven Aus2/3 outbreaks. The number of patients colonized was similar between EMRSA-15 and Aus2/ 3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 7 [range 3 – 20] and 11 [5 – 26], respectively; P = 0.07) but the number of HCWs colonized was significantl y higher in EMRSA-15 outbreaks compared to Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 4 [range 0 – 15] and 2 [1-3], respectively; P = 0.013). The percentage of HCWs colonized was also higher in EMRSA-15 outbreaks versus Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks (median 3.4% [range 0 – 5.5%] and 0.81% [0.56 – 2.2%], respectively; P= 0.013).Conclusions:This study demonstrates a higher level of HCW colonization during EMRSA-15 outbreaks compared with Aus2/3-EMRSA outbreaks. This finding suggests that MRSA vary in their ability to colonize HCWs and contribute to outbreaks. MRSA type should be determined during outbreaks and future research should investigate the mechanisms by which EMRSA-15 contributes to increased HCW colonization. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45504 10.1186/2047-2994-3-7 BioMed Central Ltd. fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Aus2/3-EMRSA Health care workers Outbreak EMRSA-15 Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin resistant Hart, J. Christiansen, Keryn Lee, R. Heath, C. Coombs, Geoffrey Robinson, James Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title | Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title_full | Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title_fullStr | Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title_short | Increased EMRSA-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of EMRSA hospital outbreaks |
| title_sort | increased emrsa-15 health-care worker colonization demonstrated in retrospective review of emrsa hospital outbreaks |
| topic | Aus2/3-EMRSA Health care workers Outbreak EMRSA-15 Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin resistant |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45504 |