Survey: MRSA control progress needed

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A poll of infection control experts says U.S. healthcare facilities aren't doing enough to protect patients from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The online poll conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control found that 59 percent of the 2,100 responding said their healthcare facility has stepped up efforts to curb MRSA in the past six months. However, 50 percent said their healthcare facility is "not doing as much as it could or should to stop the transmission of MRSA."

"We took this informal poll of our membership to get a sense of the pace of progress and what's changed in the six months since our MRSA Prevalence Study," Kathy L. Warye, chief executive officer of APIC said in a statement. "It's concerning that many infection prevention programs are still inadequately funded and that facilities lack resources, staff and buy-in from senior management to prevent the transmission of MRSA."

APIC guidelines for MRSA elimination include: a risk assessment to identify high-risk areas for MRSA within the hospital; surveillance to identify MRSA cases; adherence to hand hygiene guidelines; use of contact precautions such as gloves, gowns and separating MRSA patients from other patients; equipment cleaning especially bed rails and bedside equipment and targeted active surveillance cultures testing high-risk groups.