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Screening for Carriage of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Shortly After Exposure May Lead to False-Negative Results

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

John Evison  and
Kathrin Mühlemann
John Evison
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Kathrin Mühlemann*
Affiliation:
Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
*
Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Friedbühlstrasse 51, 3010 Bern, Switzerland (kathrin.muehlemann@ifik.unibe.ch)
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Abstract

We evaluated a double screening strategy for carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients exposed to a newly detected MRSA carrier. If the first screening of the exposed patient yielded negative results, screening was repeated 4 days later. This strategy detected 12 (28%) of the 43 new MRSA carriers identified during the study period. The results suggest that there is an incubation period before MRSA carriage is detectable.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 29 , Issue 8 , August 2008 , pp. 774 - 776
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2008

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