The Need
Staphylococcus aureus infections are an increasingly serious public health issue
Colonized patients at risk for serious complications include surgical, trauma, burn and dialysis patients:
S. aureus colonized patients are up to 9 times more likely to develop surgical site infections than non-carriers
S. aureus is the major cause of access infections and bacteremia in dialysis patients
Carriage is the major risk factor for infection with S. aureus in dialysis patients
Up to 93% of nosocomial
S. aureus infections are caused by a patient’s own flora
SA and MRSA infections are associated with increases in length of hospital stay, costs, morbidity, and mortality
Nasal carriage of S. aureus and self-infection of wounds in ICU/Burn patients is well documented
The Solution
Rapid and accurate detection of colonization facilitates targeted infection control practices:
Optimize pre-admission workflow and counseling
Enables measures to reduce endogenous infection risk, including decolonization
Supports measures to reduced exogenous infection risk, including barrier/contact precautions
Aligns with infection control strategies as outlined by SCIP and SHEA/IDSA
Impact
Impact of Pre-Surgical Screening on Post-Operative Infection Rates
S. aureus can lead to more serious complications, especially in orthopaedic and cardiovascular procedures leading to poor patient outcomes which prolong hospital stay and costs.
Impact on Resource Utilization and Hospital Efficiencies
Pre-surgical screening in combination with decolonization has been shown to reduce post-operative infection rates by up to 60%