RECOGNITION
- Check for IC alert
- if IC alert not available, check previous 12 months of microbiology reports
- Presumptive or confirmed MRSA report in last 6 months without 3 consecutive clear screens since last MRSA, treat as tagged for MRSA
- All inpatients colonised with MRSA on screening. See screening for MRSA/SA and MGNB/ESBL/CPE
Emergency admission
- If the patient has any of:
- history of MRSA in previous 6 months
- red MRSA infection prevention alert in IC alert
- age >65 yr AND transferred from a care home or other hospital
- Immediately after taking samples for MRSA screening, start INITIAL MANAGEMENT
- if all MRSA screening reports state ‘MRSA not detected’, stop decolonisation immediately
INITIAL MANAGEMENT
- Use standard infection prevention precautions
Isolation
- If patient has any of:
- exfoliating skin condition
- productive sputum
- extensive wound areas/skin ulcers
- multiple MRSA positive sites
- Nurse in single room
- If patient has none of:
- exfoliating skin condition
- productive sputum
- extensive wound areas/skin ulcers
- multiple MRSA positive sites
- Nurse in single room or cohort nurse with other patients with recent positive MRSA report
Signs of clinical infection
- If patient has a wound or ulcer infected with MRSA (not just colonised), treat infection
- Once infection has improved, move to decolonisation of the patient
Decolonisation
- Once any infection clear, start 5-day decolonisation regimen
- If there is a medical device in situ that breaches skin or mucous membranes (central venous catheter, tracheal cannula, drain, external pacemaker), or a urinary catheter, decolonise while device in situ
- and again, after all devices have been removed
Patient safe not to decolonise
- About to be discharged home
- Unlikely to be re-admitted within 12 months and
- At low risk of aureus (SA) infection
- skin intact, no diabetes
- no malignancy and not on immunosuppressive treatment
- Nasal mupirocin 2% 8-hrly for 5 days
- For mupirocin-high level resistant MRSA, use chlorhexidine 0.1% with neomycin 5% (Naseptin®) nasal cream topically to each nostril 6-hrly for 10 days
- Wash body once daily for 5 days, and hair twice in 5 days
- with chlorhexidine gluconate solution 4% (Hibiscrub®)
- alternative product (e.g. Octenisan® or Triclosan®)
- if chlorhexidine gluconate solution 4% not tolerated or patient not self-caring, use octenidine (Octenisan®)
SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT
Repeat Screening
Patient safe not to re-screen
- About to be discharged home
- Unlikely to be re-admitted within 12 months and
- At low risk of aureus (SA) infection
- skin intact, no diabetes
- no malignancy and not on immunosuppressive treatment
Patients for re-screening
- After any systemic and/or topical antimicrobial treatment stopped for 48 hr, re-screen
- Screen weekly in MRSA infection high risk areas:
- Critical care unit/PICU/SCBU
- Burns and plastics
- Vascular surgery
- Renal unit
- Cardiothoracic wards
- Orthopaedic wards
- Neurosurgical wards
- Oncology/haematology wards
Outcome
- If 3 clear screens, patient may come out of single room or cohort
- no longer requires barrier nursing
- do not admit to MRSA-screened ward
- If eradication has failed, do not repeat decolonisation until all indwelling lines/medical devices removed
- Do not attempt to eradicate more than twice during any one admission
© 2022 The Bedside Clinical Guidelines Partnership.
Created by University Hospital North Midlands and Keele University School of Computing and Mathematics.
Research and development team: James Mitchell, Ed de Quincey, Charles Pantin, Naveed Mustfa