Nasal screening is useful in excluding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in ventilator-associated pneumonia

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening performed for infection control purposes may be useful in guiding decisions regarding the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the intensive care unit. A cohort study of adults with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) found that admission MRSA nasal swabs had a negative predictive value of 94% for later MRSA VAP. Copyright (C) 2014 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.