Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) active screening in a Pulmonology department.

Introduction: Active screening for MRSA has been used in several hospitals around the world and some studies have demonstrated its impact in reducing the rate of infection by this agent. Our hospital has started in 2015 a screening protocol for MRSA. Objectives: Descriptive analysis of patients hospitalized during one year and submitted to the MRSA screening protocol. Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the data regarding the MRSA screening protocol of the patients hospitalized during one year in the department of Pulmonology. MRSA screening protocol was performed in patients with at least 1 of the following risk factors: hospitalization in high-risk units, reentry within 30 days of discharge, antibiotic therapy in the last 6 months, frequent hospitalizations, each 7 days of hospitalization, presence of invasive medical devices, presence of scaly / exudative dermatological pathology, wounds or chronic ulcers and residents of nursing homes. Results: A total of 316 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 64.1±15.6 years and 179 (56.6%) were males. 170 (53.8%) patients had criteria for the admission screening test and 225 (71.2%) patients had criteria to the screening test due to a hospitalization greater than 7 days. 6 (3.5%) patients had positive screening test for MRSA at admission and 7 (4.1%) had a positive screening test during their hospital stay. In 42 (24.7%) the protocol was not performed due to a fail in protocol. 13 (4.1%) patients were submitted to decolonization. Conclusions: The MRSA screening and descolonization protocols can be useful in hospitals. However, it is necessary to make all the hospital staff aware of the strict compliance of protocols.