Bacterial Infections in Neonates Following Mupirocin-Based MRSA Decolonization: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2017 Aug;38(8):930-936. doi: 10.1017/ice.2017.108. Epub 2017 Jun 5.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To characterize the risk of infection after MRSA decolonization with intranasal mupirocin. DESIGN Multicenter, retrospective cohort study. SETTING Tertiary care neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from 3 urban hospitals in the United States ranging in size from 45 to 100 beds. METHODS MRSA-colonized neonates were identified from NICU admissions occurring from January 2007 to December 2014, during which a targeted decolonization strategy was used for MRSA control. In 2 time-to-event analyses, MRSA-colonized neonates were observed from the date of the first MRSA-positive surveillance screen until (1) the first occurrence of novel gram-positive cocci in sterile culture or discharge or (2) the first occurrence of novel gram-negative bacilli in sterile culture or discharge. Mupirocin exposure was treated as time varying. RESULTS A total of 522 MRSA-colonized neonates were identified from 16,144 neonates admitted to site NICUs. Of the MRSA-colonized neonates, 384 (74%) received mupirocin. Average time from positive culture to mupirocin treatment was 3.5 days (standard deviation, 7.2 days). The adjusted hazard of gram-positive cocci infection was 64% lower among mupirocin-exposed versus mupirocin-unexposed neonates (hazard ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.17-0.76), whereas the adjusted hazard ratio of gram-negative bacilli infection comparing mupirocin-exposed and -unexposed neonates was 1.05 (95% CI, 0.42-2.62). CONCLUSIONS In this multicentered cohort of MRSA-colonized neonates, mupirocin-based decolonization treatment appeared to decrease the risk of infection with select gram-positive organisms as intended, and the treatment was not significantly associated with risk of subsequent infections with organisms not covered by mupirocin's spectrum of activity. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:930-936.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Intranasal
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / administration & dosage
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
  • Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Bacterial Infections / prevention & control*
  • Carrier State / drug therapy*
  • Carrier State / epidemiology
  • Carrier State / microbiology
  • Cross Infection / epidemiology
  • Cross Infection / microbiology
  • Cross Infection / prevention & control*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant, Newborn, Diseases / epidemiology
  • Infant, Newborn, Diseases / microbiology
  • Infant, Newborn, Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Male
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*
  • Mupirocin / administration & dosage
  • Mupirocin / therapeutic use*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Staphylococcal Infections / epidemiology
  • Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
  • Staphylococcal Infections / prevention & control*
  • Tertiary Care Centers / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Mupirocin