Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Long-Term Care Facilities

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections emerged as a problem in acute-care hospitals in this country in the 1970s. However, as is true of most nosocomial infections, long-term care facilities have not been exempt from those issues that plague acute-care hospitals, and, indeed, bring their own peculiar circumstances to bear on the problem. Infection and colonization with MRSA has been no exception and has evolved as a major infection control issue within long-term care facilities. Aside from an early report of MRSA cultured from patients in a nursing home in Seattle, Washington in 1969, data on MRSA in long-term care facilities have appeared only recently. In spite of the dearth of information, many long-term care facilities established policies relating to MRSA in the early to mid-1980s; often these policies were developed in hopes of excluding MRSA from their facility, and for many reasons often have not helped solve the problems associated with MRSA in long-term care facilities.