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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA
Published on: February 9, 2011
When should contact precautions be discontinued for patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus?
Lauren E Richey1, Yumi Oh1, Djeunou M Tchamba1
1Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC.
Abstract:
When to discontinue contact precautions for patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains unresolved and policies vary between hospitals. We prospectively performed admission active surveillance cultures on patients known to have been MRSA positive for at least 1 year to determine the proportion who remained positive. The proportion of patients with MRSA who remained positive was 19.9%; however, this significantly decreased over time, particularly after 5 years.
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