According to a new report, a novel program to prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections using simple infection control techniques and behavioral change reduced the incidence of MRSA infections from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals. Epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted the analysis and presented their findings at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America's 19th Annual Scientific Meeting this past Saturday.

The three hospitals involved in the study screened all patients admitted to a pilot unit for MRSA, isolated all MRSA-positive patients, and had strict hand washing and infection control procedures. They also employed an approach called Positive Deviance; this model is based on the notion that every organization has certain people (called "Positive Deviants") who function more effectively than others with the exact same resources and conditions.  In this context, the Positive Deviance approach helps identify and spread effective MRSA prevention practices to every person who comes into contact with patients. Funding for the MRSA prevention program came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

The CDC estimates that nearly 100,000 Americans acquire invasive MRSA infections each year and about 86 percent of invasive MRSA infections are associated with health care facilities. It is encouraging that simple, cost-effective approaches to changing caregiver behavior in hospitals, such as Positive Deviance, can have a significant impact on reducing MRSA infections.

For more information about MRSA, see our previous tips for preventing MRSA infections or post a question about MRSA on our online community.  

_{Photo: skampy, Flickr, Creative Commons}