What is MRSA?
MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus.
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium found on the skin and in the nose of many healthy people. This is called carriage or colonization. Some bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotics that we use to treat infections. MRSA is a type of
Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to most antibiotics, including the antibiotic methicillin. MRSA can cause many types of infection, including wound and surgical site infections, bloodstream infections (bacteremia) and pneumonia.
UHN MRSA Bacteraemia Rates
*The MRSA bacteremia rate is calculated as a rate per 1,000 patient days.
The "total patient days" represents the sum of the number of days during which services were provided to all inpatients during a given time period.
The rate is calculated as follows:
(Number of new hospital-acquired cases of MRSA bacteremia in our facility during the reported quarter / Total number of patient days for the quarter) x 1000.
To view MRSA rates for all Ontario hospitals, please visit the
Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care website.
What is IPAC at UHN doing to prevent MRSA?
At UHN, we screen all patients admitted to the hospital for colonization with MRSA. Patients found to carry MRSA are placed under "contact precautions," which means that all visitors need to wear a fresh gown, gloves and procedure mask before entering the room. This is done to prevent the spread of MRSA from a colonized patient to others in the hospital.
Rates of MRSA colonization are monitored within UHN. Rates of MRSA bacteraemia are reported to the Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care on a quarterly basis.
As always, we emphasize hand hygiene to prevent the spread of any infection – including MRSA – within the hospital.
