Published 8 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4035
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4035

Analysis

Should we screen low risk patients for meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus?

Michael Millar, consultant microbiologist

1 Department of Infection, Barts and The London NHS Trust, London E1 2ES

michael.millar@bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk

Department of Health policy requiring all hospital patients to be screened for MRSA breaches ethical guidelines, argues Michael Millar

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

Since April 2009, all patients electively admitted to English hospitals must be screened for meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).1 The requirement will be extended to emergency admissions from next year. Although the policy is presented as a population screening programme, most people who are screened will gain little benefit and may be harmed. The justification for universal screening is therefore unclear.

The Department of Health has taken increasingly stringent measures since 2001 to reduce the burden of infection associated with MRSA. The measures seem to have been successful, with the numbers of MRSA bloodstream infections falling by more than half from 2003 to 2008. However, the overall numbers of healthcare associated infections reported to the English Health Protection Agency rose substantially, raising questions about the focus on MRSA.2 3

Before April 2009 most NHS trusts screened patients for MRSA when they were considered to be at high risk of MRSA colonisation . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

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Scottish studies provide additional key information
Dr Peter Christie, et al.
bmj.com, 12 Oct 2009 [Full text]
MRSA screening: A wasteful department of health driven exercise or enhancing quality of care for patients
Achyut Guleri, et al.
bmj.com, 6 Nov 2009 [Full text]
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