1 in 400 hospital workers have active MRSA infection

Link: Am I Passing MRSA to My Patients? - Journal Watch Emergency Medicine.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become ubiquitous in emergency departments, but the role of healthcare workers in its transmission is unclear. To assess likelihood of MRSA colonization, infection, and transmission among healthcare workers, researchers performed a comprehensive literature search and identified 127 investigations involving 33,318 screened healthcare workers. Only 18 studies failed to detect MRSA in healthcare workers. Inadequate hand-washing, chronic skin diseases, and having worked in countries with endemic MRSA were identified as risk factors for MRSA carriage. The overall MRSA carriage rate was 4.6%, and most colonization was on the hands or in the nasopharynx of affected healthcare workers. Of these carriers, 5.1% had clinical infections. Healthcare-worker transmission of MRSA to patients was deemed likely in 63 of 68 studies (93%) that performed genotyping. Transmission occurred from both transiently and persistently colonized workers. Eight studies documented transmission to workers’ family members. According to data from one systematic review, nasal mupirocin led to MRSA eradication in 91% of 143 treated workers within 48 to 96 hours.