Preemptive Isolation to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Cross-Transmission in Diabetic Foot
- Emmanuelle Lecornet, MD1,
- Jérôme Robert, MD, PHD, MPH2,
- Sophie Jacqueminet, MD1,
- Ha Van Georges, MD1,
- Sandrine Jeanne, MD1,
- Florence Bouilloud, MD1,
- Christine Veyrie, MD1,
- Vincent Jarlier, MD2,
- André Grimaldi, MD1 and
- Agnès Hartemann-Heurtier, MD, PHD1
- 1Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Department, AP-HP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris6, Paris, France
- 2Bacteriology and Hygiene Department, AP-HP Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris6, Paris, France
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Agnès Hartemann-Heurtier, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, 83 bld de l'Hôpital, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Department, 75651 Paris, Cedex 13, France. E-mail: agnes.heurtier{at}psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
Dedicated foot units have been developed to improve diabetic foot ulcers management. However, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is isolated from 20 to 30% of infected diabetic foot ulcers (1–3). Consequently, placing colonized patients and at-risk patients with open wounds in the same unit may speed up MRSA cross-transmission (4). Therefore, although the impact of MRSA on the outcome of the ulcer remains debatable (5,6), the prevention of MRSA cross-transmission should be a priority in such units (6–8). The implementation of strict isolation precautions is highly recommended (9–12) because MRSA is mainly transmitted through the hands of transiently colonized health care personnel (9,13,14). Our objective was to assess the efficiency of preemptive isolation procedures implemented in a diabetic foot unit to prevent MRSA cross-transmission.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—
All patients consecutively admitted to …
