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Perception vs Reality: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage Among Healthcare Workers at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2015

Nora E. Colburn ,
Jennifer Cadnum ,
Elizabeth Flannery ,
Shelley Chang ,
Curtis J. Donskey  and
Usha Stiefel
Nora E. Colburn
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
Jennifer Cadnum
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Elizabeth Flannery
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Shelley Chang
Affiliation:
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
Curtis J. Donskey
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
Usha Stiefel*
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
*
Address correspondence to Usha Stiefel, MD, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Infectious Diseases Section, 10701 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44106 (usha.stiefel@case.edu).
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Abstract

In a prevalence study of 209 healthcare workers, 18 (8.6%) and 13 (6.2%) carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in their nares or on their hands, respectively. However, 100 (62%) of 162 workers completing an associated survey believed themselves to be colonized, revealing a knowledge deficit about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus epidemiology.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;37(1):110–112

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 110 - 112
Copyright
© 2015 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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Footnotes

Presented in part: Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 19th Annual Meeting; San Diego, California; March 19–22, 2009.

References

REFERENCES

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