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. 2013 Nov;57(10):1458-60.
doi: 10.1093/cid/cit542. Epub 2013 Aug 13.

Impact of colonization pressure and strain type on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission in children

Victor O Popoola  1 , Karen C Carroll, Tracy Ross, Nicholas G Reich, Trish M Perl, Aaron M Milstone
Affiliations

Impact of colonization pressure and strain type on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission in children

Victor O Popoola et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

We studied the transmissibility of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) strains and the association of MRSA colonization pressure and MRSA transmission in critically ill children. Importantly, we found that in hospitalized children MRSA colonization pressure above 10% increases the risk of MRSA transmission 3-fold, and CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA strains have similar transmission dynamics.

Keywords: colonization pressure; healthcare-associated infections; intensive care unit; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; transmission.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Relative risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission by increasing quartiles of colonization pressure. MRSA colonization pressure was defined as the average proportion of total patient-days that were MRSA-positive patient-days during the preceding 7 days and was categorized into quartiles. Relative risk was calculated from log binomial regression models specifying the first quartile of colonization pressure as the reference category (broken line, RR = 1.0). *P < .05; n = number of days in each quartile; a = number of MRSA acquisitions in each quartile.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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