Prevention of Healthcare Associated Staphylococcus aureus Infections

__Abstract__ S. aureus colonizes the skin and mucosae of a proportion of the human population. Carriers of S. aureus are at increased risk of developing infections with this pathogen. The aim of this thesis was to add to the prevention of healthcare associated S. aureus infections. We conducted a RCT which aimed to identify S. aureus carriers upon admission to hospital, and treated carriers with either mupirocin ointment and chlorhexidin soap, or with placebo ointment and placebo soap. The mup/chx treated group developed significantly less S. aureus infections than the placebo treated group. In this study, many types of patients, both surgical and nonsurgical, were included. Chapter 3 describes, based on mortality rates, which groups of patients benefit most from this strategy. In