Study says even clean hands can transmit MRSA in the NICU

New research suggests that even if hospital workers practice perfect hand hygiene, MRSA can still spread among babies in the NICU, according to an article on the Eureka Alert website.

In a simulation study, based out of Christiana Care's NICU (Newark, Del.), the study found that even if workers had perfect hand hygiene, just under one in every 100 contacts between a baby and a hospital worker could still result in a MRSA transmission.

"The biggest implication is that hospitals should not just rely upon hand hygiene alone for protecting patients from becoming colonized and possibility infected with a difficult-to-treat organism," study author Neal D. Goldstein, PhD said. "Rather, infection control is a multi-pronged strategy. 

"We can follow hygiene procedures, use gowns or gloves as needed, keep a clean environment, not bring in possible fomites such as cell phones, watches, or jewelry, and be a watchdog for the hospital, requesting that healthcare workers do hand hygiene if we don't see it being done." he said in the article. 

Read the article.