BMJ  2004;329:978 (23 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7472.978-b

Letter

Preventing the spread of MRSA

...and the role of practices such as phlebotomy is worth considering

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The spread of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been wholly apportioned by the mass media to poor handwashing techniques by doctors and nurses.¹ Although handwashing techniques must be improved, other quite blatant modes of transmission are swept aside.

Every healthcare professional will be aware of the prevalence of MRSA in the community, yet the media never consider that the relatives and friends of patients may well be an important factor in the spread of MRSA in the hospital setting. However, after observing phlebotomists at work I have come to realise a far more obvious mode of transmission—the tourniquet.

No junior doctor would be without phlebotomists, who make the busy house officer's working life so much easier. They graciously attend all the wards in the hospital and thanklessly take blood. In doing this however, they may well be giving MRSA the helping hand it needs. The same tourniquet . . . [Full text of this article]

Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield WF2 4DG drfrank77@yahoo.co.uk

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