The Health Care Worker, Resistant Bacteria (MRSA), and Preventing Contagion
Methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection is a particularly serious problem in hospitals, where MRSA often exceeds 25% of S. aureus isolates. Because MRSA strains are not susceptible to cephalosporin or semi-synthetic penicillin antibiotics, intravenous vancomycin is usually employed when MRSA infections occur. For reasons of cost, toxicity, and to avoid driving the emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) or the more fearsome vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), vancomycin is not routinely ordered at the outset of most infections. Rather, empiric antibiotics are selected that...
