VCU EXPERT ALERT: Hospital epidemiologist available for comment on infectious disease, antibiotic resistant bacteria and study in today’s JAMA

By Malorie Burkett

A Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center epidemiologist is available for comment on a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found universal screening of patients for possible infection with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, at hospital admission may not reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections in surgical patients.

Outbreaks of MRSA infections have been reported nationwide in recent months, and the study in the current issue of JAMA looked at universal screening.

"Many hospitals have adopted screening of patients as a mechanism for MRSA control, despite the controversial medical literature on this topic," said Michael Edmond, M.D. "This study is the largest well-designed study that has been published and shows that the intervention of screening and isolation did not have any impact on the rate of MRSA infection.

"This study coupled with previous evidence that patients who are isolated have increased rates of fall, bedsores and reduced doctor and nurse visits, should cause hospitals to re-evaluate this practice," Edmond said.

In the study, researchers in Geneva, Switzerland, evaluated 21,754 surgical patients at 12 different surgical wards at a Swiss teaching hospital to determine the effectiveness of an early MRSA detection strategy on MRSA infections acquired in a hospital.

They examined two strategies including rapid screening on admission, plus standard infection control measures, compared with standard infection control alone. The research team found no added benefit of the universal screening on admission compared to the standard infection control alone.

MRSA is a strain of Staph bacteria that does not respond to penicillin and related antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs.

A professor of internal medicine and epidemiology, Edmond can discuss epidemiology and disease processes. His areas of research focus on the epidemiology of hospital-acquired infections, antibiotic-resistant infections, and public policy implications of infection control. He is board certified in internal medicine and infectious disease.