Value of an active surveillance policy to document clearance of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci amongst inpatients with prolonged admissions.

This article reports the impact of an active surveillance policy to identify clearance of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in known colonized inpatients with prolonged admissions in order to discontinue isolation precautions. Amongst 365 colonized patients with hospital admissions exceeding 30 days, clearance rates of 11% for MRSA and 18% for VRE were found after a median of 23 days and 26.5 days, respectively, resulting in a saving of 2152 patient-days of contact precautions over one year. This has proven to be a cost-beneficial policy.