Pittsburgh-area hospitals testing for staph infections

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Associated Press

Posted on Sat, Apr. 23, 2005

PITTSBURGH - Eight southwestern Pennsylvania hospitals are routinely testing nasal swabs taken from patients in an effort to reduce the incidence of a stubborn staph infection that is resistant to some antibiotics.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is monitoring the effort to track methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, to see if it works.

"We could potentially see it as a model for other regions of the country," said Dr. John Jernigan, a CDC epidemiologist. "Perhaps, over time, we can have a national impact on this problem."

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/11472485.htm

[oramar]

Thankyou for posting this, I almost missed it. Just wondering if there is some reason staff is never tested. One would think that would be one in a series of steps at least.