ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is high in the Poitiers teaching hospital, particularly in the intermediate care facilities. We performed a survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in the intermediate care facilities and 265 patients were included. METHODS: Nasal, cutaneous and wound swab cultures were done at the time of admission and at the time of the patients' departure. A decolonization procedure of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers was performed using nasal application of fusidic acid and different soaps for the skin. At entry, 17.7% of patients were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers (of at least one location). At departure, 30.4% were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers. Among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus non-carriers at entry, 24.3% became methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers. RESULTS: The principal risk factor of carriage was the initial presence of a wound (RR = 3.6). The incidence rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection among the 265 patients included was 3%. CONCLUSION: The systematic screening of patients at the time of admission is expensive and isolation technically hard to manage in the intermediate care facilities. The risk factor we found in this study allow us to propose a 'light' screening limited to patients with wounds.
