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OBJECTIVE: How to eradicate methicillin-resistantStaphylo-coccus aureus(MRSA) colonization in hospitalized patients is uncertain. We reviewed our experience with MRSA decolonization therapy in hospitalized patients.SETTING: An 1100-bed, university-affiliated tertiary care teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario.DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of 207 adult inpatients with MRSA colonization hospitalized between February 1996 and March 1999.INTERVENTIONS: All patients with MRSA colonization were assessed for possible decolonization therapy with a combination of 4% chlorhexidine soap for bathing and washing, 2% mupirocin ointment applied to the anterior nares three times/day, rifampin (300 mg twice daily) and either trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (160 mg/800 mg twice daily) or doxycycline (100 mg twice daily). This treatment was given for seven days.RESULTS: A total of 207 hospitalized patients with MRSA colonization were identified and 103 (50%) received decolonization therapy. Patients who received decolonization therapy were less likely than untreated patientsto have intravenous (P=0.004) or urinary catheters (PCONCLUSIONS: Combined topical and oral antimicrobial therapy was found to be effective in eradicating MRSA colonization in selected hospitalized patients, especially those without indwelling medical devices or extranasal sites of colonization.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate parenteral antibiotic utilization and bacterial resistance patterns in a critical care unit (CrCU).DESIGN: Descriptive, prospective audit of infection site, culture and antimicrobial susceptibility test results, parenteral antibiotic usage and duration, total antibiotic acquisition costs, and length of stay.SETTING: A 17-bed medical-surgical CrCU in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Metropolitan Toronto.PATIENTS: Two hundred and fifty-eight patients admitted to the CrCU between May 1995 and April 1996 who received antimicrobial therapy.RESULTS: The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were cefazolin (47%, 1098 g), gentamicin (33%,141 g) and ceftriaxone (20%, 255 g). The most common indications for antimicrobial therapy included surgical prophylaxis (34%) and pneumonia (35%). The following organisms were isolated from patients treated with antibiotics:Staphylococcus aureus(26%),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(13%), enterococci (12%),Haemophilus influenzae(11%),Escherichia coli(11%),Enterobacter cloacae(8%) and other Gram-negative bacilli (19%). Only 9% of Gram-negative bacilli were resistant to aminoglycosides, 3% were resistant to ciprofloxacin and no extended-spectrum beta-lactamases or imipenem-resistance were detected. No vancomycin-resistant enterococci and only two methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureusisolates were identified.CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic use during the audit appeared appropriate for the specific clinical indications. Low levels of bacterial resistance were detected during the audit.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of resistance ofStreptococcus pneumoniaeto penicillin and other antimicrobial agents in metropolitan Toronto.Design: Consecutive pneumococcal isolates from different patients were obtained from two private community-based laboratories and from patients assessed in the emergency department of a tertiary-care teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario between June and December 1993, and between March and October 1994. In vitro susceptibility testing was done by broth microdilution in accordance with National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guidelines.Results: Twenty (7.3±3.1%) of 274 pneumococcal isolates were resistant to penicillin; six (30%) isolates had high-level resistance (minimal inhibitory concentration [mic] 2.0 μg/mL or greater); and 14 isolates had intermediate resistance (mic0.1 to 1.0 μg/mL). Penicillin-resistant strains were also frequently resistant to tetracycline (55%), cotrimoxazole (50%), erythromycin (40%) and cefuroxime (35%). Resistant strains comprised several serotypes: 19F (six isolates), 9V (three), 23F (three), and one each of 6A, 6B, 14, and 19A; four isolates were nontypeable.Conclusions: There has been a recent emergence of penicillin-resistantS pneumoniaein southern Ontario. National and regional surveillance is warranted to determine the extent of the problem elsewhere in Canada.