Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the state of methicillin-resistant Staphyloco-ccus aureus (MRSA) of inpatients in oral surgery.
The subjects were 80 inpatients from February to May 1993, and seven of 8 outpatients who were MRSA carriers at the time of discharge. The specimens were collected by swab from nasal and pharyngeal mucosa at the time of admission and discharge and every 2 weeks after discharge of 7 outpatients with MRSA.
The results revealed that MRSA was isolated from 7 of 80 inpatients (8.7%) and 5 of these 7 patients were suspected of nosocomial infection. MRSA isolation rate was observed to be higher in inpostoperative elderly patients than the other patients. Four of 7 outpatients with MRSA were found to be noncarriers within 1 year after discharge.
These results suggest that we should screen MRSA carriers at the time of admission and follow them up carefully after discharge.
