Evaluation of contact precautions for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus

Background: There are limited controlled data demonstrating contact precautions (CPs) prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections in endemic settings. We evaluated changes in hospital-acquired MRSA and VRE infections after discontinuing CPs for these organisms. Methods: This is a retrospective study done at an 800-bed teaching hospital in urban Detroit. CPs for MRSA and VRE were discontinued hospital-wide in 2013. Data on MRSA and VRE catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), surgical site infections (SSIs), and hospital-acquired MRSA bacteremia (HA-MRSAB) rates were compared before and after CPs discontinuation. Results: There were 36,907 and 40,439 patients hospitalized during the two 12-month periods: CPs and no CPs. Infection rates in the CPs and no-CPs periods were as follows: (1) MRSA infections: VAP, 0.13 versus 0.11 (P = .84); CLABSI, 0.11 versus 0.19 (P = .45); SSI, 0 versus 0.14 (P = .50); and CAUTI, 0.025 versus 0.033 (P = .84); (2) VRE infections: CAUTI, 0.27 versus 0.13 (P = .19) and CLABSI, 0.29 versus 0.3 (P = .94); and (3) HA-MRSAB rates: 0.14 versus 0.11 (P = .55), respectively. Conclusions: Discontinuation of CPs did not adversely impact endemic MRSA and VRE infection rates. (c) 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.