A longitudinal survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage in nursing homes and the long-term care facility in Taiwan

BACKGROUND We conducted a longitudinal survey for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage in nursing homes and long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in northern Taiwan. METHODS From July 2016 to February 2017, healthcare workers and residents in four institutions were enrolled. One swab sample from nares and another swab sample from umbilicus were obtained from each participant for detection of MRSA at enrolment and then follow-up samples were collected every two months for additional three times if feasible. RESULTS We enrolled a total of 194 participants, including 127 residents and 67 healthcare workers. MRSA colonization rates were 23.2%, 22.8%, 20.7% and 18.6% at enrolment, the 2-, 4-, and 6-month follow-up survey, respectively, and the cumulative colonization rate was 40.2%. The MRSA detection rate was significantly higher at Institution 2 (70.7%) than that at other three institutions (25.7% ∼ 35%) (p