Eradication of MRSA nasal colonization as a strategy for infection prevention

Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus poses a higher risk for infection in both the hospital and community. Eradication of nasal colonization is widely inferred to prevent infection in high-risk subjects (e.g. surgical or hemodialysis patients) but unproven in clinical trials because they focused on all patients rather than nasal carriers. Future studies powered with large numbers of nasal carriers should successfully demonstrate the benefit of colonization eradication as a strategy for preventing infection.

Section editors:Gary Woodnutt – CovX, San Diego, USAPaul-Henri Lambert – Centre of Vaccinology, University of Geneva, Switzerland