MRSA - hygiene management, diagnostics and treatment

Methicillin-resistant Staphyococcus aureus strains remain a challenge to both patient care and infection control efforts. In addition to the defining resistance to beta-lactams several other antibiotic classes may be ineffective. Some resistance phenotypes exhibit a characteristic distribution pattern between healthcare-associated, community-associated, and livestock-associated MRSA strains. For patients with defined risk factors a search-, destroy-, follow-up-strategy is recommended in order to identify and eliminate MRSA colonization. Mupirocin nasal ointment and extensive hygiene measures are the mainstays of decolonization efforts. Besides vancomycin several other antimicrobials such as rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol, clindamycin, linezolid, and daptomycin are used to treat specific MRSA infections.