Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T02:32:32.175Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Successful Control of Widespread Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization and Infection in a Large Teaching Hospital in The Netherlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

M. J. C. A. van Trijp ,
D. C. Melles ,
W. D. H. Hendriks ,
G. A. Parlevliet ,
M. Gommans  and
A. Ott
M. J. C. A. van Trijp*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Medical Microbiology, Medical Center Rijnmond-Zuid, Rotterdam Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, University Medical Center, Rotterdam
D. C. Melles
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, University Medical Center, Rotterdam
W. D. H. Hendriks
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Medical Microbiology, Medical Center Rijnmond-Zuid, Rotterdam
G. A. Parlevliet
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, University Medical Center, Rotterdam
M. Gommans
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Medical Microbiology, Medical Center Rijnmond-Zuid, Rotterdam
A. Ott
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, University Medical Center, Rotterdam Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, Groningen, The Netherlands
*
Medical Center Rijnmond-Zuid, Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, Olympiaweg 350, 3078 HT Rotterdam, The Netherlands ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective.

The low prevalence of infection and colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in The Netherlands is ascribed to a national “search-and-destroy” policy. We describe the measures that were implemented to control widespread MRSA colonization and infection in a Dutch hospital.

Design.

Descriptive intervention study.

Setting.

Teaching medical center with a capacity of 679 beds, including 16 intensive care beds.

Interventions.

MRSA colonization and infection were identified using conventional culture with a selective broth. Isolates were typed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Measures to control the epidemic included screening of contacts (patients and hospital staff), screening of patients at readmission or discharge, strict isolation of MRSA-positive patients, decolonization of colonized staff and patients, the development of an electronic signal identifying MRSA-positive patients, and the development of a culture information-system for hospital personnel.

Results.

Awareness of uncontrolled dissemination of MRSA began in November 2001. Because the clone involved had a low minimum inhibitory concentration for oxacillin, at first it was not recognized as MRSA. In February 2002, when major screening efforts started, it appeared that MRSA had spread all over the hospital and that many staff members were colonized. By the end of December 2005, a total of 600 patients and 135 staff members were found to be newly colonized. The yearly incidence of cases of MRSA colonization and infection decreased from 351 in 2002 to 56 in 2005. Typing of the isolates showed that 3 MRSA clones were predominant. Outbreaks of colonization involving these clones did not occur after 2003.

Conclusion.

Our observations show that strict application of “search-and-destroy” measures can effectively control a huge epidemic of MRSA colonization and infection.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , August 2007 , pp. 970 - 975
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) Annual Report. EARSS-2003. Bilthoven, The Netherlands: the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM); 2004.Google Scholar
2. Boyce, JM, Cookson, B, Christiansen, K, et al. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . Lancet Infect Dis 2005;5:653–663.Google Scholar
3. Wertheim, HF, Vos, MC, Boelens, HA, et al. Low prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at hospital admission in the Netherlands: the value of search and destroy and restrictive antibiotic use. J Hosp Infect 2004;56:321–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System Report, data summary from January 1992 through June 2003, issued August 2003. Am J Infect Control 2003;31:481–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Klevens, RM, Edwards, JR, Tenover, FC, McDonald, LC, Horan, T, Gaynes, R. Changes in the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in intensive care units in US hospitals, 1992-2003. Clin Infect Dis 2006;42:389–391.Google Scholar
6. Goossens, H, Ferech, M, Vander, SR, Elseviers, M. Outpatient antibiotic use in Europe and association with resistance: a cross-national database study. Lancet 2005;365:579–587.Google Scholar
7. Dutch Working Party on Infection Prevention (STWIP). Policy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Guideline 35A. 1994. Available at: http://www.wip.nl. Accessed November 23, 2006.Google Scholar
8. Verhoef, I, Beaujean, D, Blok, H, et al. A Dutch approach to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 1999;18:461–466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Cepeda, JA, Whitehouse, T, Cooper, B, et al. Isolation of patients in single rooms or cohorts to reduce spread of MRSA in intensive-care units: prospective two-centre study. Lancet 2005;365:295–304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Farr, BM. What to think if the results of the National Institutes of Health randomized trial of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and van-comycin-resistant Enterococcus control measures are negative (and other advice to young epidemiologists): a review and an au revoir. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2006;27:1096–1106.Google Scholar
11. Bootsma, MC, Diekmann, O, Bonten, MJ. Controlling methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: quantifying the effects of interventions and rapid diagnostic testing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006;103:5620–5625.Google Scholar
12. Wertheim, H, Verbrugh, HA, van Pelt, C, de Man, P, van Belkum, A, Vos, MC. Improved detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using phenyl mannitol broth containing aztreonam and ceftizoxime. J Clin Microbiol 2001;39:2660–2662.Google Scholar
13. National Committee on Clinical and Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: 12th Informational Supplement. Wayne, PA: NCCLS; 2002:M100-S12.Google Scholar
14. Tenover, FC, Arbeit, R, Archer, G, et al. Comparison of traditional and molecular methods of typing isolates of Staphylococcus aureus . I Clin Microbiol 1994;32:407–415.Google Scholar
15. Wannet, WJ, Spalburg, E, Heck, ME, Pluister, GN, Willems, RJ, de Neeling, AJ. Widespread dissemination in The Netherlands of the epidemic Berlin methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone with low-level resistance to oxacillin. J Clin Microbiol 2004;42:3077–3082.Google Scholar
16. Lessing, MP, Jordens, JZ, Bowler, IC. Molecular epidemiology of a multiple strain outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus amongst patients and staff. J Hosp Infect 1995;31:253–260.Google Scholar
17. Saiman, L, Cronquist, A, Wu, F, et al. An outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a neonatal intensive care unit. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2003;24:317–321.Google Scholar
18. Huang, SS, Yokoe, DS, Hinrichsen, VL, et al. Impact of routine intensive care unit surveillance cultures and resultant barrier precautions on hospital-wide methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Clin Infect Dis 2006;43:971–978.Google Scholar
19. Thompson, RL, Cabezudo, I, Wenzel, RP. Epidemiology of nosocomial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . Ann Intern Med 1982;97:309–317.Google Scholar
20. de long, B, Verbrugh, HA. Ramp in het ziekenhuis. Med Contact 2003;15.Google Scholar
21. Vriens, M, Blok, H, Fluit, A, Troelstra, A, Van Der, WC, Verhoef, J. Costs associated with a strict policy to eradicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Dutch University Medical Center: a 10-year survey. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2002;21:782–786.Google Scholar