Healthcare-associated versus community-acquired infections: a new challenge for science and society.

Healthcare and community associated MRSA are meanwhile exchanged in all directions between hospitals, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, and the community. This article is focusing on the situation concerning MRSA, but the situation concerning other multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens such as vancomycin-resistant enterococci or MDR Gram-negative pathogens is similar. Some European countries have started national campaigns to improve the situation significantly. They require the successful cooperation between healthcare facilities, public health authorities, health insurances, quality management and patient safety organizations, educational facilities, the public, and the veterinarian sector. These activities in the society need scientific data to provide evidence for the intervention measures and support their implementation. To really support the activities in the society, intervention studies are urgently needed to provide a more robust basis for decisions to improve the situation. Copyright 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.