AHRQ Safety Program for MRSA Prevention

About This Project

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most invasive and deadly multidrug resistant organisms. In the 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Threat Report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were 323,000 cases of invasive MRSA infection annually based on 2017 data, and over 10,000 deaths.¹ Unfortunately, MRSA infections increased 13 percent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.²

This program aims to adapt AHRQ's proven CUSP framework to develop and implement interventions to reduce MRSA in hospitals, surgical services, and long-term care facilities.

So other providers can reduce MRSA infection, tools and resources used and lessons learned by participants in this 3-year project have been compiled into a toolkit for ICU and non-ICU settings. Toolkits for surgical services and long-term care facilities will be completed in 2025.

Project Partners

This project is being conducted through a partnership that brings together subject matter experts and providers in the field. Partners for this project include—

• Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
• NORC at the University of Chicago.

To learn more about the project, visit the Toolkits for MRSA Prevention.

Notes

1. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2019. Accessed August 4, 2022.

2. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19: U.S. Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance, Special Report 2022. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2022. Accessed August 4, 2022.