Impact of rapid molecular screening at hospital admission on nosocomial transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Cluster randomised trial

Design: Cluster randomised crossover trial with seven wards randomly allocated to intervention or control arm. Setting: Medical and surgical wards of a university hospital with active MRSA control programme. Participants: All patients hospitalized >48 h in study wards and screened for MRSA on admission and discharge Intervention: Rapid PCR-based screening test for MRSA compared with control screening test by enrichment culture using chromogenic agar. Objective: We determined the benefit of PCR-detection versus culture-based detection of MRSA colonisation upon patient admission on early impl... Mehr ...