Four years after implementing a national initiative to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rates in Veterans Affairs (VA) long-term care facilities, MRSA infections have declined significantly, according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
The MRSA Prevention Initiative, implemented nationwide in 133 VA long-term care facilities in 2009, led to a 36 percent overall decrease in MRSA infections (from .25 to .16/1000 resident days) over the 42-month study period, despite the fact that admissions with MRSA colonization increased.
The MRSA Prevention Initiative utilizes a bundled approach that includes screening every patient for MRSA, use of gowns and gloves when caring for patients colonized or infected with MRSA, hand hygiene, and an institutional culture change focusing on individual responsibility for infection control. It also created the new position of MRSA Prevention Coordinator at each center.
Residents in long-term care facilities are at risk for infections with multidrug-resistant organisms, and infectious organisms can be difficult to control when introduced into these settings. Because of concerns about MRSA prevalence in long-term care, the VA expanded the MRSA Prevention Initiative into the VA’s 133 long-term care facilities throughout the U.S. The initiative had already shown dramatic success in reducing MRSA healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates in acute care hospitals.