MRSA in the Veterinarian Population
MRSA is the common term for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. This form of a staph infection is difficult to treat, since it is resistant to the most commonly used antibiotics, and can be deadly if untreated. While it was originally found mostly in hospital patients and staff, it is rapidly spreading to the outside population. Plus, MRSA is not limited to just people, your pets and livestock can get it as well, putting veterinarians and their staffs at risk.
A study was done in the Netherlands, the country in Europe with the lowest rate of MRSA. They screened 80 vet students and 99 veterinarians, excluding 27 students that did not have livestock contact. In the group, researches found seven carriers of MRSA, equal to 4.6%, which is about the same as the rate MRSA is found in patients that have been treated in foreign hospitals. Here is a look at the tests and the results.
The Netherlands has the lowest rate of MRSA in Europe, credited to the screening of patients upon admission to healthcare facilities. The highest risk patients were those that had been admitted or treated at hospitals abroad. However, in 2004 three patients that had not been abroad were found to have MRSA: a pig farmer, the child of a pig farmer, and the child of a veterinarian.
This prompted a screening of local pig farmers, upon which a prevalence of >20% of MRSA carriers was found, suggesting that pigs may increase the risk of contracting MRSA. To see if this held true, the study of veterinarians and veterinary students was performed.
Each of the test subjects had cultures taken from anterior nasal passageways and their throat, and were also asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding their contact with animals and MRSA risk factors. These cultures were then analyzed to determine the presence of staphylococci bacteria and its resistance to antibiotics.
Of the patients studied, 2 students and 5 veterinarians were shown to be carriers. There was no instance of MRSA among the students that had no regular contact with livestock. All of the carriers had been in recent or regular contact with pigs and cows. 2 subjects had known risk factors – one had been to a foreign hospital and one had an MRSA positive family member – but they both tested negative as MRSA carriers. The MRSA strains proved to be resistant to tetracycline, but were susceptible to Vancomycin, ciprofloxacin, a few other antibiotics.
MRSA has been found in horses, pigs, and other livestock. However, the exact risk of transmission from these animals to their caretakers is still unknown. In the Netherlands, however, the MRSA prevalence among the test subjects was about 160 times higher than what is seen in the average population. This may warrant animal care professionals to be considered high risk, and subject to the screening and isolation upon admittance to hospitals in the Netherlands.
Because of this risk, it is highly encouraged that animal caretakers make use of gloves and protective masks when working with animals in addition to the boots and coveralls that are already worn.
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