Are there any guidelines for the removal of Contact Precautions for patients with MRSA in hospitals?
Staphylococcus aureus, including those strains that are methicillin and oxicillin resistant, frequently colonizes humans and is considered normal flora. S. aureus can be found in respiratory secretions, skin, vaginal secretions, and stool and colonization often lasts for months to years. Importantly, Staphylococcus aureus is capable of being transmitted in the carrier state. One study demonstrated patients remain MRSA positive 6 months to 2 years (60 to 13 percent, respectively). 1 Scanvic found 40% of previous MRSA positive patients were still carriers on readmission at 3 months, and the median time to a negative MRSA screen was 8.5 months. Interestingly, of the 19 persistent carriers tested, 79% had PFGE patterns similar to previous isolates. In a multivariate analysis only the presence of a break in the skin was significantly associated with persistent carriage p=.0042. Currently, in addition to using Contact Precautions (CP), control measures may include active surveillance for ear
