Elimination of Epidemic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from a University Hospital and District Institutions, Finland

Kotilainen, Pirkko; Routamaa, Marianne; Peltonen, Reijo; Oksi, Jarmo; Rintala, Esa; Meurman, Olli; Lehtonen, Olli-Pekka; Eerola, Erkki; Salmenlinna, Saara; Vuopio-Varkila, Jaana; Rossi, Tuire

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Elimination of Epidemic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from a University Hospital and District Institutions, Finland

Supporting Files Public Domain

Feb 2003
By Kotilainen, Pirkko ; Routamaa, Marianne ; Peltonen, Reijo ; ...

File Language:

English

Details

Alternative Title:

Emerg Infect Dis
Personal Author:

Kotilainen, Pirkko ; Routamaa, Marianne ; Peltonen, Reijo ; Oksi, Jarmo ; Rintala, Esa ; Meurman, Olli ; Lehtonen, Olli-Pekka ; Eerola, Erkki ; Salmenlinna, Saara ; Vuopio-Varkila, Jaana ; Rossi, Tuire
Description:

From August 1991 to October 1992, two successive outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occurred at a hospital in Finland. During and after these outbreaks, MRSA was diagnosed in 202 persons in our medical district; >100 cases involved epidemic MRSA. When control policies failed to stop the epidemic, more aggressive measures were taken, including continuous staff education, contact isolation for MRSA-positive patients, systematic screening for persons exposed to MRSA, cohort nursing of MRSA-positive and MRSA-exposed patients in epidemic situations, and perception of the 30 medical institutions in that district as one epidemiologic entity brought under surveillance and control of the infection control team of Turku University Hospital. Two major epidemic strains, as well as eight additional strains, were eliminated; we were also able to prevent nosocomial spread of other MRSA strains. Our data show that controlling MRSA is possible if strict measures are taken before the organism becomes endemic. Similar control policies may be successful for dealing with new strains of multiresistant bacteria, such as vancomycin-resistant strains of S. aureus.
Subjects:

Cross Infection Disease Outbreaks Follow-Up Studies Hospitals, University Humans Intensive Care Units Medical Staff Methicillin Resistance Research Staphylococcal Infections Staphylococcus Aureus
Source:

Emerg Infect Dis. 9(2):169-175
Pubmed ID:

12603986
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC2901945
Document Type:

Journal Article
Place as Subject:

Finland
Location:

Europe
Volume:

9
Issue:

2
Collection(s):

Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:53adbcf106bdf1e7448c2361e74ca0addcf631a982925fbe8118268774e28402
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/14001/cdc_14001_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 325.29 KB ]

File Language:

English

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