Transmissibility of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ST398) in Dutch hospitals.
Wassenberg, M. W. M. 1,2; Bootsma, M. C. J. 3,4; Troelstra, A. 1; Kluytmans, J. A. J. W. 5,6; Bonten, M. J. M. 1,3
[Article]
Clinical Microbiology & Infection.
17(2):316-319, February 2011.
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We quantified nosocomial transmission rates of sequence type (ST) 398 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (an emerging livestock-associated MRSA clone) and non-ST398 MRSA isolates in patients hospitalized without infection control measures in 51 Dutch hospitals. Identification of 174 index patients initiated 139 post-exposure screenings of 9925 persons. There were 65 genotype-confirmed secondary cases (three and 62 for ST398 and non-ST398 MRSA, respectively), yielding a relative transmission risk for ST398 MRSA of 0.28 (95% CI 0.09-0.90), which was not sensitive to adjustment for duration of hospitalization at time of detection. Nosocomial transmission of ST398 MRSA is 72% less likely than that of non-ST398 MRSA strains.
Clin Microbiol Infect 2011; 17: 316-319
Copyright (C) 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.