Two Studies Feed the Debate on Active Surveillance for Methicillin‐ResistantStaphylococcus aureusand Vancomycin‐Resistant Enterococci Carriage: To Screen or Not to Screen?

Abstract

The upsurge in bacteria that are resistant to many commonly used antimicrobials has led to growing concern among infectious disease specialists [1]. The increasing worldwide incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis [2, 3], the emergence of quinolone-resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae [4], and reports of panresistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections requiring treatment with older antibiotics once set aside because of their toxicities [5] are but a few examples. Two of the more prominent antibiotic-resistant path-ogens are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). According to a recent report from the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance system of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), MRSA accounted for nearly 60% of all nosocomial S. aureus infections in intensive care units (ICUs), whereas 29% of enterococcal infections in this population were caused by vancomycin-resistant species [6].