Abstract
There are conflicting data in the literature about the need for contact isolation for active methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.
In this retrospective review, we compared the MRSA bloodstream standardized infection ratio for 1 year while contact precautions were in place for MRSA infections and for 1 year after routine contact precautions for MRSA were no longer in place.
There was no change in the MRSA bloodstream standardized infection ratio between the two time periods.
With cessation of contact precautions for MRSA infections, there was no change in bloodstream MRSA standardized infection ratios across a large health system. While standardized infection ratios would not detect asymptomatic horizontal transmission of a pathogen, it is reassuring that bloodstream infections - a known complication of MRSA colonization status - did not rise with cessation of contact precautions.