Impact of chlorhexidine bathing on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus incidence in an endemic chronic care...

We postulated that bathing with 2% chlorhexidine-impregnated antiseptic washcloths could reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) incidence among chronic care patients compared with nonantiseptic bathing. A total of 122 patients on 3 hospital units were enrolled in a 12-month, cluster-randomized, open-label, controlled trial, with 8 patients becoming MRSA positive. The 2% chlorhexidine-impregnated antiseptic washcloths reduced incidence by 71% (0.1 vs 0.44 cases per 1,000 patient days) (P = .14; Fisher exact). The detected difference was not statistically significant because of a low number of observed events.