Led by researchers at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) in Evanston, Illinois, the study is the first and largest in the United States to show the impact of implementing a universal, active surveillance program coupled with a comprehensive infection prevention program to reduce MRSA infections. MRSA bacteria can cause a potentially fatal infection that does not respond to common antibiotics and is a significant cause of hospital-associated infections.

Study authors report ENH reduced MRSA infection rates by 70 percent in less than two years. The reductions were significant in every category measured, such as surgical site, bloodstream, urinary tract and respiratory infections. Furthermore, this study indicates that limited active surveillance conducted only in the intensive care units did not produce the desired result, and that MRSA infections were significantly reduced only when universal all admissions testing was performed.

'BD is fully committed to the prevention of MRSA infections using active surveillance screening as a core component of a comprehensive infection prevention program,' said Tobi Karchmer, MD, MS, Medical Affairs Director, BD Diagnostics - GeneOhm. 'Each institution needs to perform its own risk assessment and determine the best approach to implementing an MRSA infection prevention program. In some institutions, universal active surveillance may be appropriate, as demonstrated in this new study, and in others it may be more appropriate to focus on certain high-risk patient populations.'

The BD GeneOhm MRSA assay is a qualitative in vitro molecular diagnostic test cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the direct detection of MRSA nasal colonization. Since its launch, over 2 million patients have been tested with the BD GeneOhm assay in over 250 healthcare institutions worldwide that are committed to reducing MRSA infections and improving patient outcomes.