Information for Inpatient Clinicians and Administrators

Numerous studies show that MRSA infections can be prevented, and CDC offers clinicians practical guidelines and tools to help reduce infections and protect patients. MRSA is important to control for three main reasons:

• Pathogenicity.
  MRSA bacteria have many virulence factors that enable them to cause disease. For example, MRSA is a cause of healthcare-associated bloodstream and catheter-related infections. MRSA is also a common cause of community-associated infections, especially skin and soft tissue infections, and can also cause necrotizing pneumonia.
• Limited treatment options.
  MRSA is resistant to first-line antibiotics, leaving clinicians and patients with limited treatment options. IDSA has recent guidelines for treatment of MRSA.  CDC published a landmark report, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, listing MRSA as a “serious” threat to health.
• Transmissibility.
  MRSA is primarily spread through direct and indirect contact with infected or colonized patients. Poor adherence to standard infection control precautions (e.g. hand hygiene) can lead to transmission between patients and to clusters of infections. Adherence to infection control measures is critical to preventing MRSA outbreaks.

See how your facility and state are performing in publicly available reports from CMS Hospital Compare which uses data from CDC’s NHSN to publicly report data about hospital quality measures, including MRSA and and other infections.