References

Rapid test for MRSA "Superbug" helps Edmonton's Dr. Mark Joffe keep patients, healthcare workers safe from killer infection.

Each year, between eight and twelve thousand Canadians die from a healthcare-associated infection (HAI).¹  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cost the Canadian healthcare system between $41 million and $58 million annually.²  Where does this deadly bacteria come from?  Up to seven per cent of patients admitted to hospital are carriers of MRSA.  Though they may show no signs of infection themselves, they can be a source of infections for others.³

MRSA can be transmitted very rapidly from one patient or healthcare worker to another in a hospital setting.  However, traditional testing methods are slow and inefficient, handicapping hospitals as they fight these bugs.  Traditionally, cultures must be grown on agar plates for 24 to 72 hours before results are known. This makes patient screening difficult and expensive:  transmission may occur from carriers before results are known or healthy patients may be kept in expensive isolation for three days unnecessarily.

Advances in technology, however, mean many hospitals now have an effective new tool at their disposal.  At the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Edmonton, Dr. Mark Joffe says a new Rapid Test has resulted in significant reduction in MRSA transmission within the hospital

"Within the intensive care unit, especially, it has effectively almost been eliminated," says Dr. Joffe, Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at RAH. 

Countries like Denmark and the Netherlands have shown that aggressive "search and destroy" tactics can help win the war against MRSA.  By identifying patients and healthcare workers who carry MRSA, hospitals there are able to maintain much lower infection rates than in Canada.  Learning from this European experience, Edmonton's RAH has been using similar technology since 2005, with excellent results.

Hospitals such as RAH can now use new Rapid MRSA test kits to screen patients for MRSA.  A "swab" taken from the inside of a person's nose can be tested rapidly in the hospital's laboratory, using a standard available instrument and sophisticated software that detect unique gene sequences found only in MRSA.  Definitive results may be available in as little as two hours, allowing hospitals to institute proper precautions for people found carrying MRSA and to begin appropriate treatment almost immediately.

"It's a very effective test and, when coupled with excellent infection control practices, it helps facilitate both patient management and improved bed utilization," explains Dr. Joffe.  "The rapid test for MRSA allows for a much quicker results time turnaround.  Previously (it) took up to 72 hours to get a negative culture back from the labs whereas now, cost savings are seen with a reduction in isolation time for patients and hospital beds being freed up."

The rapid test helps minimize the risk of complications and transmission to others and avoids the need for extended isolation while awaiting results.  Reducing isolation time also benefits the hospital by freeing up beds and cutting costs, according to Dr. Joffe.

Having a simple, effective and efficient testing tool has also improved other infection control practices.  Dr. Joffe points out the act of swabbing and then receiving results from screened patients helps underscore the need for good infection control practices and leads to improved compliance.  Taken together, the new test plus attention to good practices means both patients and healthcare workers are safer, and hospitals are saving money.

Technology Overview

fast facts