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Unrecognized Burden of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Carriage in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Aaron M. Milstone*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Xiaoyan Song
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Claire Beers
Affiliation:
Children's Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Ivor Berkowitz
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Karen C. Carroll
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Microbiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
Trish M. Perl
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
*
Johns Hopkins University, Departments of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, 600 North Wolfe St., Osier 425, Baltimore, MD 21287 (amilstol@jhmi.edu)

Abstract

Routinely, children's hospitals use data from clinical cultures to estimate the burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) carriage. In our pediatric intensive care unit, a program of weekly surveillance cultures uncovered an unrecognized reservoir of MRSA and VRE carriers. This weekly surveillance enabled more accurate estimates of the incidence rates of MRSA and VRE carriage and led to an increased number of isolation-days for patients.

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2008

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