MRSA screening in emergency department detects a minority of MRSA carriers

Excerpt

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging problem in Denmark. The National Board of Health (NBH) has issued a screening tool to identify risk situations for admitted patients, consisting of three parts: questions concerning general risk situations, special risk situations, and individual risk factors. All patients should answer the general risk situation questions, the special risk, and risk factor on indication and be tested for MRSA if a risk situation is identified. Since the majority of all acute patients are admitted to the emergency departments (ED), the ED plays a key role in prevention of in-hospital spreading of MRSA. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of MRSA among all acutely admitted ED patients and to evaluate the ability of the NBH screening tool to detect MRSA patients. …