How often do asymptomatic healthcare workers cause methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus outbreaks? A systematic evaluation. |
| |
| Authors: | Ralf-Peter Vonberg Sabine Stamm-Balderjahn Sonja Hansen Irina Zuschneid Henning Ruden Michael Behnke Petra Gastmeier |
| |
| Institution: | Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Vonberg.Ralf@MH-Hannover.DE |
| |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
