This will certainly not satisfy our critics but our 10+ year collective experience with the de-escalation of contact precautions for the control of endemic MRSA and VRE cannot be fully dismissed.
Using an interrupted time series study design across 3 academic medical centers, we once again report no negative impact on healthcare associated infection rates following the discontinuation of contact precautions for endemic MRSA and VRE. Limitations exist, such as full compliance measures data on infection prevention best practices and the absence of surveillance screening cultures for MRSA and VRE colonization.
Our findings are published here in the American Journal of Infection Control.
As always, draw your own conclusions.
