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NHSN Annual Update:
Antimicrobial-Resistant Pathogens Associated With Healthcare-Associated Infections

Annual Summary of Data Reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006–2007

Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens that cause healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) pose an ongoing and increasing challenge to hospitals, both in the clinical treatment of patients and in the prevention of the cross-transmission of these problematic pathogens.  Describing the magnitude of the problem with respect to these antimicrobial-resistant pathogens is challenging, because the levels of antimicrobial resistance vary for different types of healthcare facilities and for different geographic areas, and some resistance phenotypes are difficult for laboratories to detect. However, the findings from such attempts may help the infection control and public health communities target problems and utilize resources more efficiently.

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Featured in The Times
"Ireland 'losing war' on superbug" February 15, 2009
Challenges of Implementing National Guidelines for the Control and Prevention of Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization or Infection in Acute Care Hospitals in the Republic of Ireland
Fidelma Fitzpatrick, MD; Fiona Roche, PhD; Robert Cunney, MB; Hilary Humphreys, MD; Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland Infection Control Subcommittee
The research, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, found one third of hospitals did not have a written policy on antibiotic use, and only 35% had an antibiotic stewardship programme.

February 2006

Volume 27, Number 2
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2006;27:204–207
© 2006 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.
0899-823X/2006/2702-0001$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/500628
Concise Communication

Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Canadian Aboriginal People

Marianna Ofner‐Agostini, BScN, RN;

Andrew E. Simor, MD;

Michael Mulvey, PhD;

Elizabeth Bryce, MD;

Mark Loeb, MD;

Allison McGeer, MD;

Alex Kiss, PhD;

Shirley Paton, RN, MN; the

Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, Health Canada

Ms. Ofner‐Agostini and Ms. Paton are from the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; Ms. Ofner‐Agostini is also from the Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto. Dr. Simor is from the Department of Microbiology, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Mulvey is from the Department of Nosocomial Infections, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dr. Bryce is from the Department of Pathology, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Loeb is from the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. McGeer is from the Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Kiss is from the Department of Research Design and Biostatistics, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario. Members of the CNISP are listed at the end of the text.

We describe 279 hospitalized Canadian aboriginals in whom methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was detected. They were identified in 38 Canadian hospitals from 1995 through 2002. Compared with nonaboriginals, aboriginals were more likely to be younger than 18 years of age (OR, 1.8; ), to have had an MRSA infection (OR, 3.8; ), and to have had MRSA isolated from specimens of skin or soft tissue (OR, 4.1; ). The clinical features of MRSA infection in aboriginals are distinct from those in the general patient population with MRSA infection in Canadian hospitals, and the genetic background of MRSA isolates from aboriginals also varies from that of strains from the non‐aboriginal population.

Received February 3, 2005; accepted February 7, 2005; electronically published February 8, 2006.

Address reprint requests to Andrew Simor, MD, Department of Microbiology, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, B121‐2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 ().

Cited by

John D. Turnidge. (2009) High Burden of Staphylococcal Disease in Indigenous Communities. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 199:10, 1416-1418
Online publication date: 15-May-2009.
Citation-Full Text-PDF Version (49 kB)
S. Y. C. Tong, R. A. Lilliebridge, D. C. Holt, M. I. McDonald, B. J. Currie, P. M. Giffard. (2009) High-resolution melting analysis of the spa locus reveals significant diversity within sequence type 93 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from northern Australia. Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Online publication date: 1-May-2009.
CrossRef

  • Presented in part at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Boston, MA, September 30‐October 3, 2004 (session 51).

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