Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 65 (1), 33-36, 2012

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Koichi Izumikawa¹, Yoshihiro Yamamoto¹*, Katsunori Yanagihara², Takayoshi Kiya², Junichi Matsuda², Yoshitomo Morinaga², Shintaro Kurihara³, Shigeki Nakamura¹, Yoshifumi Imamura¹, Taiga Miyazaki¹, Tomoya Nishino¹, Misuzu Tsukamoto¹, Hiroshi Kakeya¹, Akira Yasuoka³, Takayoshi Tashiro³, Shimeru Kamihira², and Shigeru Kohno¹

¹Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, ⁴Division of Scientific Data Registry, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, and ⁵Department of Health Sciences, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 852-8501; and ²Department of Laboratory Medicine and ³Nagasaki University Infection Control and Education Center, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan

(Received August 4, 2011. Accepted October 31, 2011)

*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan. Tel: +81-95-819-7273, Fax: +81-95-849-7285, E-mail: このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。

SUMMARY: The utility of active surveillance cultures (ASCs) in respiratory wards, that do not have an associated intensive care unit (ICU), and the usefulness of the BD GeneOhm MRSA^TM system for rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have not been previously evaluated in Japan. ASCs using conventional culture methods and the BD GeneOhm MRSA^TM assay were conducted in adult inpatients between May 11, 2009 and November 10, 2009 in a respiratory ward, without an associated ICU, in Nagasaki University Hospital. The infection and colonization rates of MRSA acquired in this respiratory ward were both investigated. A total of 159 patients were investigated. Of these, 12 (7.5%) were found positive for MRSA by the BD GeneOhm MRSA^TM assay and 9 (5.7%) were found positive by a conventional culture test upon admission. All cases were MRSA-colonized cases and cross-transmission was not found to occur during hospitalization. The BD GeneOhm MRSA^TM assay had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 98%. ASCs in our respiratory ward revealed that MRSA was brought in from other sites in some cases, and that current infection control measures in Nagasaki University Hospital are effective. The BD GeneOhm MRSA^TM assay was proven to be a useful and rapid detection tool for MRSA.