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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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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.

June 2006

Volume 27, Number 6
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2006;27:593–597
© 2006 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.
0899-823X/2006/2706-0010$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/504936
Original Article

Molecular Characterization of Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Spread by Neonates Transferred From Primary Obstetrics Clinics to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Korea

Kwan Soo Ko, PhD;

Sulhee Park, MS;

Kyong Ran Peck, MD, PhD;

Eun Jung Shin, RN, MS;

Won Sup Oh, MD, PhD;

Nam Yong Lee, MD, PhD;

Jae‐Hoon Song, MD, PhD

From the Asian‐Pacific Research Foundation for Infectious Diseases (K.S.K., S.P., J.‐H.S.) and the Division of Infectious Diseases (K.R.P., W.S.O., J.‐H.S.), the Department of Laboratory Medicine (N.Y.L.), and the Infection Control Office (E.J.S.), Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Objective.To investigate the characteristics and origins of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from neonatal patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital from local and primary care obstetrics clinics.

Design.Molecular typing study.

Setting.A 1,278‐bed tertiary care hospital (Samsung Medical Center) and 2 primary obstetrics clinics in Seoul, Korea.

Patients.The genotypic characteristics of 12 MRSA samples isolated from 11 neonatal patients transferred from 2 primary care obstetrics clinics to a tertiary care hospital were investigated by means of multilocus sequence typing, spa (staphylococcal protein A) typing, and SCCmec typing. Ten MRSA strains isolated from workers and environments in the associated obstetrics clinics were also investigated.

Results.Although the antibiograms of isolates from 2 obstetrics clinics differed, no strain showed multidrug resistance to antimicrobials. Multilocus sequence typing analysis showed that all 22 MRSA isolates analyzed in this study had sequence type 1 (with the allelic profile 1‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1), sequence type 493 (62‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1), or a novel sequence type (25‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1‐1) and that all belonged to a single clonal complex (clonal complex 1). Moreover, they all contained SCCmec type IVA and the identical spa type (UJEBKBP). These genotypic characteristics are similar to those of typical community‐associated MRSA strains rather than the hospital‐acquired MRSA strains common in Korea.

Conclusion.The findings of this study suggest that community‐acquired MRSA strains can spread in primary care clinics and be imported into tertiary care settings.

Received July 22, 2005; accepted October 12, 2005; electronically published May 18, 2006.

Address reprint requests to Kyong Ran Peck, MD, PhD, Division of Infectious Diseases, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Il‐won dong, Kangnam‐ku, Seoul 135‐710, Korea ().

Cited by

Sun Hee Park, MD; Chulmin Park, PhD; Jin‐Hong Yoo, MD; Su‐Mi Choi, MD; Jung‐Hyun Choi, MD; Hyun‐Ho Shin; Dong‐Gun Lee, MD; Seungok Lee, MD; JaYoung Kim, MD; So Eun Choi, RN, MS; Young‐Mi Kwon, RN, MS; Wan‐Shik Shin, MD. (2009) Emergence of Community‐Associated Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains as a Cause of Healthcare‐Associated Bloodstream Infections in Korea •. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 30:2, 146-155
Online publication date: 1-Feb-2009.
Abstract-Full Text-PDF Version (345 kB)
Walter Zingg, Klara M Posfay-Barbe, Didier Pittet. (2008) Healthcare-associated infections in neonates. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 21:3, 228-234
Online publication date: 1-Jul-2008.
CrossRef
Kwan Soo Ko, Ji-Young Lee, Jin Yang Baek, Kyong Ran Peck, Ji-Young Rhee, Ki Tae Kwon, Sang Taek Heo, Kang-Mo Ahn, Jae-Hoon Song. (2008) Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage from Children Attending an Outpatient Clinic in Seoul, Korea. Microbial Drug Resistance 14:1, 37-44
Online publication date: 1-Apr-2008.
CrossRef
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