Weak evidence on effectiveness of isolation measures on control of MRSA
Sir,
The systematic review by BS Cooper et al reveals such weakness of research
on isolation measures for control of MRSA that one wonders whether a lot
of efforts and resources are invested on policies without sufficient
evidence. It is amazing that only 4 studies out of 46 (less than 10%)
found isolation measures to be effective. Some questions arise: Could the
level of general cleanliness of the hospital be more important than
isolation of infected patients? Are MRSA epidemics mainly the result of
the fact that we nowadays treat increasingly more ill patients with
decreased defenses? After all, how exactly do you "isolate" an organism
who lives in the patient's own throat?
Rapid Response:
Weak evidence on effectiveness of isolation measures on control of MRSA
Sir,
The systematic review by BS Cooper et al reveals such weakness of research
on isolation measures for control of MRSA that one wonders whether a lot
of efforts and resources are invested on policies without sufficient
evidence. It is amazing that only 4 studies out of 46 (less than 10%)
found isolation measures to be effective. Some questions arise: Could the
level of general cleanliness of the hospital be more important than
isolation of infected patients? Are MRSA epidemics mainly the result of
the fact that we nowadays treat increasingly more ill patients with
decreased defenses? After all, how exactly do you "isolate" an organism
who lives in the patient's own throat?
Yours Faithfully
Savvas Papagrigoriadis
Consultant Surgeon
King's College Hospital,
London, UK
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests