A poll of infection
prevention professionals conducted six months after the Association for
Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's) national
MRSA Prevalence Study indicated that while 59 percent of the 2,100 who
responded are adopting or have already adopted interventions to address
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 50 percent said their
health care facility is not doing as much as it could or should to stop the
transmission of MRSA.
MRSA is a virulent multi-drug resistant organism. Interventions adopted
ranged from increased hand hygiene compliance and testing of high-risk
groups to the more comprehensive approach outlined in APIC's Guide to the
Elimination of MRSA Transmission in Hospital Settings.
"We took this informal poll of our membership to get a sense of the
pace of progress and what's changed in the six months since our MRSA
Prevalence Study," said Kathy L. Warye, Chief Executive Officer of APIC.
"We are encouraged that many hospitals are empowering infection prevention
professionals to implement more MRSA prevention measures. However, it's
concerning that many infection prevention programs are still inadequately
funded and that facilities lack resources, staff and buy-in from senior
management to prevent the transmission of MRSA."
Two recent studies have brought increased attention to MRSA. In June,
APIC released the first national MRSA Prevalence Study which is being
published in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection
Control. This was followed by a CDC report published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association in October.
"Our members understand the severity of this issue and are aggressively
addressing MRSA, but the scope of this public health threat demands
commitment and participation from every hospital, at all levels of the
facility," said Denise Murphy, president of APIC and Vice President of
Safety and Quality, and Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer at
Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center in St.
Louis. "Hospitals should commit the resources to conduct a thorough risk
assessment of patient populations and implement viable strategies to
prevent MRSA and other antimicrobial-resistant infections."
APIC guidelines for the elimination of MRSA transmission include a risk
assessment to identify high-risk areas for MRSA within the hospital;
surveillance program to outline activities and procedures to identify MRSA
cases; adherence to CDC hand hygiene guidelines; use of contact precautions
(e.g., gloves, gowns and separating MRSA patients from other patients);
environmental and equipment cleaning and decontamination, especially items
that are close to patients such as bedrails and bedside equipment, and
targeted active surveillance cultures (testing of high-risk groups).
"What health care leaders need to understand is that these
interventions represent pennies on the dollar compared to the costs of
infections once they occur. Reducing these infections saves both lives and
scarce resources," said Warye. "APIC will conduct a thorough, formal study
with our members in six months, and at that time we expect to see many more
facilities in compliance with national guidelines."
Published in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of
Infection Control, the APIC MRSA Prevalence Study offers the most
comprehensive understanding of MRSA to date. The study revealed that MRSA
is significantly more widespread throughout health care facilities and
across every state.
Findings demonstrate MRSA prevalence rates to be 46 in 1,000 patients,
eight times higher than previous estimates. Of those, approximately
34/1,000 were infected while 12/1,000 patients were colonized. The APIC
study was the first study to measure rates of both MRSA infection and
colonization (patients carrying and able to transmit MRSA), to more
accurately determine MRSA prevalence.
APIC's mission is to improve health and patient safety by reducing
risks of infection and other adverse outcomes. The Association's more than
11,000 members have primary responsibility for infection prevention,
control and hospital epidemiology in health care settings around the globe.
APIC advances its mission through education, research, collaboration,
practice guidance, public policy, and credentialing. Visit APIC online at
apic
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
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