Aggressive screening of health care workers for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) should occur in facilities with endemic conditions, according to researchers reviewing data from 169 studies involving 33,318 health care workers in 37 countries. They found that 4.6% of the workers carried MRSA; of those, 5.1% had clinical MRSA infections.

Poor infection control practices were often involved in both acquisition and transmission of MRSA by health care workers. But even good adherence to infection control practices didn't entirely prevent transmission of MRSA to patients from heavily colonized staff, researchers found.

The researchers recommend screening all health care workers, regardless of presence or absence of MRSA symptoms, during a preemployment exam and during large MRSA outbreaks. They also suggest periodic spot screening, including unannounced screening tests before work shifts.

Source: Albrich WC, Harbarth S, Health-care workers: Source, vector or victim of MRSA? The Lancet Infectious Diseases, May 2008.