Preventing the spread of MRSA

Editor—The attitude towards methicillin resistant Staphylococus aureus (MRSA) in the United Kingdom is a case of shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. Voss says that in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where the prevalence of MRSA is low, a screening and decolonisation policy for healthcare workers is advocated.¹

My experience of working outside the United Kingdom (in Australia) was that people are unable to work with patients without being screened and cleared. Having worked in England in medicine for over 12 years I have never once been screened. Surely we should at least be adopting this policy to help combat the problem?

Patients themselves must shoulder some of the blame for bringing MRSA into hospitals. It would be a mammoth task to screen the entire hospital population, but a staggered approach would be a start. Screening elective surgical patients before admission could be the first step, then perhaps people attending general practice.

I appreciate that in the short term there is a financial implication (how much and by whom?) to be considered in screening for and decolonising MRSA from the general population. In the long term stopping MRSA being brought in at the front door, so reducing lengthy hospital stays, expensive drug treatment, and potential litigation, will be more cost effective.