RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the causes of an outbreak of healthcare-associated infection with methicillin-resist-ant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)in a neurosurgical intensive care unit(NSICU).Methods Epidemiological investigation on 8 patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI)in a NSICU between June 15 and June 28,2104 were performed by combination methods of prospective and retrospective survey.Results The attack rate of MRSA LRTI in NSICU patients was 22.86%,a total of 16 MRSA isolates were detected from patients’clinical specimens,nasal vestibule,as well as hospital surroundings during the period,pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)result revealed that infection outbreak was caused by two subtypes of MRSA;risk factors analysis showed that long length of stay in ICU and aspiration of spu-tum through bronchoscopy were risk factors for MRSA LRTI.Conclusion Contamination of bronchoscope was the key factor for this epidemic spread of healthcare-associated MRSA infection.