Abstract
The spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) increased in the A ward from December 2009 to April 2011. The Infection Control Team (ICT) and the Infection Control Committee (ICC) reinforced infection measures; however, the transmission was not controlled. We investigated the presence or absence of MRSA transmission between healthcare workers (HCWs) and patients using MRSA typing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The present study tried to determine the effect of identifying MRSA transmission between HCWs and patients, and subsequently informing authorities of the transmission and preventive measures. The presence or absence of nasal colonization of MRSA in HCWs was determined in March 2010. MRSA typing of 8 isolates from HCWs and 42 isolates from patients between January 2009 and March 2010 was also performed. New MRSA acquisitions increased from 2 in December 2009 to 3 in January 2009, and then to 6 in February 2010. Reinforcement of standard precautions decreased the number of transmissions to 1 in March 2010, but the number of transmissions increased again from 1 in March 2010 to 3 in April 2010. Eight isolates from HCWs and 42 isolates from patients were classified into 4 and 16 types, respectively, by PCR. MRSA typing revealed that 4 types from both HCWs and patients were identical. This information was reported to the A ward and the ICC, and the colonized HCWs were decolonized. The prevalence of transmission among newly admitted patients during 5 months before and after the intervention decreased from 13.4% (15 of 112 patients) to 0.6% (1 of 154 patients) (p<0.001). Identifying MRSA transmission between HCWs and patients, and subsequently informing authorities of this transmission effectively controlled the spread of MRSA in this study.
