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How Often Do Asymptomatic Healthcare Workers Cause Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Outbreaks? A Systematic Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Ralf-Peter Vonberg ,
Sabine Stamm-Balderjahn ,
Sonja Hansen ,
Irina Zuschneid ,
Henning Rüden ,
Michael Behnke  and
Petra Gastmeier
Ralf-Peter Vonberg*
Affiliation:
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Sabine Stamm-Balderjahn
Affiliation:
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Free University and Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Sonja Hansen
Affiliation:
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Free University and Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Henning Rüden
Affiliation:
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Free University and Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Michael Behnke
Affiliation:
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Free University and Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Petra Gastmeier
Affiliation:
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
*
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D-30625 Hannover, Germany, (Vonberg.Ralf@MH-Hannover.DE)
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Extract

A systematic search was performed to identify outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection and colonization caused by healthcare workers (HCWs). Of 191 outbreaks identified, 11 had strong epidemiological evidence that HCWs were the source. In 3 of these outbreaks, asymptomatic carriers were the cause. The frequent practice of screening asymptomatic HCWs should be reconsidered.

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 27 , Issue 10 , October 2006 , pp. 1123 - 1127
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2006

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