MRSA--a European currency of infection control.

Editorial QJM MRSA—a European currency of infection control During the last three decades, many articles have intercountry spread of MRSA.6,15,16 In particular, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities consti-been published describing and debating the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus tute major MRSA reservoirs, and need to be surveyed closely for any strategy focusing on MRSA eradication (MRSA). This work was stimulated by the ongoing impact of infections caused by MRSA and the diffi-to succeed. 17,18 Because colonized elderly patients are frequently transferred between hospitals and long-culties in preventing or treating them.1,2 Nevertheless, uncertainties regarding the transmission and control term care facilities, a continuing circuit of MRSA transmission occurs.19 In the case of the described of MRSA remain.3 For instance, new epidemic strains of multiresistant S. aureus have continued to emerge outbreak in Cambridge, where the geriatric wards were the most important epicentre, with one-third of and decline for unknown reasons in different places since 1961.4–6 It remains unclear why some European all new cases in 1997, rigorous MRSA control in the transferring long-term care facilities may have helped countries such as the UK are affected by the rising occurrence of epidemic invasive strains of MRSA,7 to control the outbreak in the tertiary care centre. This suggests that the answer to the MRSA problem whereas countries like Denmark have nearly abolished their MRSA problem.8 Moreover, some local must come from a multidisciplinary approach involving different groups of health-care and public-health MRSA outbreaks have disappeared without any particular control efforts or antibiotic restriction,9 while professionals, not only from those in the acute care setting. Moreover, the transfer of any MRSA patient others institutions report MRSA propagation or reappearance despite various attempts to contain it.6 from one health-care institution to another should be clearly stated at time of patient transfer. In the Almost 40 years after the first report of MRSA in the UK,10 the study by Farrington and colleagues11 Netherlands, where MRSA is not endemic, a national control programme, including MRSA screening at published in this issue of QJM, describes another astonishing MRSA experience, and presents new time of hospital admission of all patients transferred from foreign hospitals or nursing homes, has been insights into the never-ending struggle to prevent MRSA infections. Several aspects of the retrospective successful in preventing the spread of MRSA.20 Unfortunately, the Dutch experience remains excep-study by Farrington and co-authors11 attract our attention. First, this paper describes …