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Health care‐associated Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: a clinical quality indicator for all hospitals
Author(s) -
Collig Peter J,
Wilkinson Irene J,
Gilbert Gwendolyn L,
Grayson M Lindsay,
Whitby R Michael
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00291.x
Subject(s) - medicine , staphylococcus aureus , incidence (geometry) , health care , intensive care medicine , psychological intervention , bloodstream infection , infection control , emergency medicine , nursing , bacteria , economics , biology , economic growth , physics , optics , genetics
Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream (SAB) infections are common and serious causes of morbidity and mortality that incur considerable health care costs and are potentially preventable. It should be relatively easy for hospitals to collect data on the incidence of SAB episodes, to determine whether infections were acquired in hospital or in the community, and to establish whether they were health care associated. The proportion of SAB infections caused by methicillin‐resistant S. aureus strains should be a useful indicator of the level of control of antibiotic resistance in the community and in the health care setting. Continuous monitoring of infection incidence would enable health care facilities to determine the effectiveness of interventions designed to minimise SAB infections.