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Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at a University Hospital in the Canary Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Isabel Montesinos ,
Eduardo Salido ,
Teresa Delgado ,
Maria Lecuona  and
Antonio Sierra
Isabel Montesinos*
Affiliation:
Infection Control and Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain
Eduardo Salido
Affiliation:
Research Unit, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain La Laguna University School of Medicine, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Teresa Delgado
Affiliation:
Infection Control and Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain
Maria Lecuona
Affiliation:
Infection Control and Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain
Antonio Sierra
Affiliation:
Infection Control and Microbiology Department, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain La Laguna University School of Medicine, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
*
Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Ofra s/n, La Cuesta, La Laguna S/C de Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
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Abstract

Objectives:

To describe the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at a university hospital in Tenerife, Canary Islands, during a 40-month period and to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of control measures.

Design:

Laboratory-based surveillance, medical charts and microbiological records review, and characterization of strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used to describe the epidemiology. Infection control practices were introduced as an intervention.

Setting:

A 650-bed, tertiary-care university hospital.

Subjects:

Patients with clinical and nasal isolates of MRSA and colonized staff members.

Results:

The rate of nosocomial MRSA infections was 32.5% for 1997, 17.9% for 1998, 14.5% for 1999, and 25.6% during the first 4 months of 2000. The major sites of isolation for nosocomial MRSA infection included surgical wounds (25%) and the lower respiratory tract (24%). Intensive care units and surgical specialties had more frequent MRSA cases. Characteristics associated with nosocomial MRSA isolates included prior use of intensive antibiotic therapy, prolonged hospital stays, major underlying illness, invasive procedures, and older age. PFGE type A (subtype A1) was the strain most frequently found and the only PFGE type involved in clusters.

Conclusions:

Surveillance cultures and contact droplet precautions were followed by decreased rates for 2 years. Nevertheless, the spread of PFGE subtype Al to many different areas of the hospital and the increase in incidence during the first third of 2000 indicates either that surveillance cultures were not used widely enough or that compliance with isolation measures was suboptimal.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 24 , Issue 9 , September 2003 , pp. 667 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2003

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