By Healthcare Facilities Today

Four years after implementing a national initiative to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rates in Veterans Affairs (VA) long-term care facilities, MRSA infections have declined significantly, according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

The MRSA Prevention Initiative, implemented nationwide in 133 VA long-term care facilities in 2009, led to a 36 percent overall decrease in MRSA infections over the 42-month study period, despite the fact that admissions with MRSA colonization increased, according to an article on the Infection Control Today website.

The initiative used a bundled approach that included screening every patient for MRSA, use of gowns and gloves when caring for patients colonized or infected with MRSA, hand hygiene, and an institutional culture change focusing on individual responsibility for infection control, the article said. It also created the new position of MRSA prevention coordinator at each center.

“We previously reported that a MRSA Prevention Initiative was associated with significant decreases in MRSA HAIs in acute care facilities over a 33-month period in a large healthcare system. Here we show that the initiative was also associated with decreased rates of MRSA HAIs in VA community living centers (CLCs) without a corresponding decrease in MRSA admission prevalence,” the report said.

Read the article.