A Greenville, North Carolina hospital has cut its MRSA infection rates dramatically by testing all incoming patients for the bug and using precautions with patients who test positive. The facility, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, demands that both visitors and professionals who treat MRSA carriers wear fresh gloves and paper gowns when they enter such patients' rooms--as well as discarding the gloves and gowns and washing their hands when they leave the room.
Since instituting its program in February of 2007, officials at Pitt County have found that about 8 percent of patients have tested positive for MRSA. By detecting and managing such cases, the hospital has cut its rate of MRSA infections associated with ventilators by 67 percent and MRSA urinary tract infections by 60 percent.
To learn more about this program:
- read this article from The Charlotte Observer
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