JAMDA
Volume 10, Issue 6 , Pages 414-418 , July 2009

Nursing Homes as Reservoirs of MRSA: Myth or Reality?

  • Michele Garazi, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Geriatrics, Long Island Jewish Hospital, New Hyde Park, NY
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to Michele Garazi, MD, Long Island Jewish Hospital, New Hyde Park, NY 11040.
    • ,
  • Barbara Edwards, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Infectious Diseases, Long Island Jewish Hospital, New Hyde Park, NY
    • ,
  • Donna Caccavale, RN

      Affiliations

    • Parker Jewish Institute for Healthcare and Rehabilitation, New Hyde Park, NY
    • ,
  • Charles Auerbach, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Wurzweiler School of Social Work, New York, NY
    • ,
  • Gisele Wolf-Klein, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Geriatrics, Long Island Jewish Hospital, New Hyde Park, NY

References 

  1. National Center for Health Statistics . Highlights of Trends in the Health of Older Americans. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 1995;
  2. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. Nursing Home Care. Available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf#117. Accessed December 8, 2008.
  3. Strausbaugh LJ, Joseph CL. Epidemiology and prevention of infections in residents of long term care facilities. In: Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004;1855–1879
  4. Bradley SF. MRSA: Long-term care concerns. Am J Med. 1999;106:2S–10S
  5. US Outcomes Research Group. New research estimates MRSA infections cost US hospitals 3.2 to 4.2 billion dollars annually. Infection Control Today. Available at: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/articles/571ic.html. Accessed April 15, 2006.
  6. Barrett FF, McGehee RF, Finland M. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Boston City Hospital: Bacteriologic and epidemiologic observations. N Engl J Med. 1968;279:441–448
  7. Larssen KW, Jacobsen T, Bergh K, et al. Outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in two nursing homes in Central Norway. J Hosp Infect. 2005;60:312–316
  8. Mylotte JM. Nursing-home acquired bloodstream infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2005;26:833–837
  9. Bradley F. Issues in the management of resistant bacteria in LTCFs. Infect Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 1999;20:362–366
  10. Sanford MD, Widmer AF, Bale MJ, et al. Efficient detection and long-term persistence of the carriage of MRSA. Clin Infect Dis. 1994;19:1123–1128
  11. Davis KA, Stewart JJ, Crouch HK, et al. MRSA nares colonization at hospital admission and its effect on subsequent MRSA infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2003;39:776–782
  12. Mulhausen PL, Harrel LJ, Weinberger M, et al. Contrasting MRSA colonization in Veterans Affairs and community nursing homes. Am J Med. 1996;100:24–30
  13. Suetens C, Niclaes L, Jans B, et al. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization is associated with higher mortality in nursing home residents with impaired cognitive status. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006;54:1854–1860
  14. Huang SS, Platt R. Risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection after previous infection or colonization. Clin Infect Dis. 2003;36:281–285
  15. Monnet DL. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and its relationship to antimicrobial use: Possible implications for control. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1998;19:552–559
  16. Nunley D, Berk SL. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy as an unrecognized source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization. Am J Gastroenterol. 1992;87:58–61
  17. Bradley SF, Terpenning M, Ramsey MA, et al. MRSA colonization and infection in a long-term care facility. Ann Intern Med. 1991;12:416–421
  18. Mody L, Kauffman CA, Donabedian S, et al. Epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus colonization in nursing home residents. Clin Infect Dis. 2008;46:1368–1373
  19. Meurman O, Routamaa M, Peltonen R. Screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Which anatomical sites to culture. J Hosp Infect. 2005;61:351–353
  20. Hsu CCS. Serial survey of MRSA nasal carriage among residents in a nursing home. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1991;12:416–421
  21. Kibbler CC, Quick A, O'Neill AM. The effect of increased bed numbers on MRSA transmission in acute medical wards. J Hosp Infect. 1998;39:213–219
  22. Boyce JM. Are the epidemiology and microbiology of MRSA changing?. JAMA. 1998;279:623–624
  23. Graham PL, Lin SX, Larson EL. A US population-based survey of Staphylococcus aureus colonization. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:318–325
  24. Trick WE, Weinstein RA, Demorais PL, et al. Colonization of skilled-care facility residents with antimicrobial resistant pathogens. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001;49:270–276

 Part of the data in this study were presented at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society, Chicago, May 2006.

 There was no sponsor for this study. All authors state no conflicts of interest.

PII: S1525-8610(09)00092-9

doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2009.02.014

JAMDA
Volume 10, Issue 6 , Pages 414-418 , July 2009

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