Ten years' experience with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a large Australian hospital

The Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH) is a 1200-bed teaching hospital with acute, general and specialist units for adult patients. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was first detected at the RBH in 1975 and the number of new patients colonized and infected increased from one in 1975 to 720 in 1989, with a peak of 811 in 1987. Virulence may be inferred from blood culture isolates. Between 1979 and 1989 the number of patients with S. aureus bacteraemia increased from 40 to 138 per year. The percentage of these isolates which were MRSA varied from a low of 4% in 1980 to a peak of 37% in 1984 with 28% in 1989. The control attempts, sensitivity patterns, sources of the isolates and their probable impact and importance will be discussed.