Decolonization strategy reduces MRSA colonization at multiple body sites
A new analysis of a randomized clinical trial shows that a repeated post-discharge decolonization regimen for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers reduced MRSA colonization overall and at multiple body sites, researchers reported yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The CLEAR (Changing Lives by Eradicating Antibiotic Resistance) Trial was a randomized controlled trial that compared 1,058 patients from hospitals and nursing homes who received MRSA prevention education with 1,058 patients who received education plus a daily, self-administered decolonization regimen of topical chlorhexidine, chlorhexidine mouthwash, and nasal mupirocin over 6 months.
The results of the trial, published in 2019, found that, within a year of discharge, the decolonization regimen reduced MRSA infections by 30% and all-cause infections by 17% compared with education alone. In the new analysis of those results, researchers looked at the efficacy of the regimen on nasal, oropharyngeal, and skin MRSA colonization at 1, 3, 6, and 9 months after randomization.
By 1 month, MRSA colonization was 56% lower in the decolonization group overall compared with the education-only group (odds ratio [OR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36 to 0.54), with a similar magnitude of reduction seen on the nares (nostrils; OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.27 to 0.42), throat (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.73), and the axilla/groin (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.75). These differences persisted through month 9 except at the wound site, which had a relatively small sample size. Higher adherence to the regimen was associated with lower MRSA colonization.
"These findings demonstrate that a home decolonization strategy is a practical and feasible means to reduce MRSA colonization in the nares, throat, and skin during a time highly vulnerable to infection," the study authors wrote. "The reduction in colonization reinforces the previously reported trial findings of significantly reduced MRSA infections and all-cause infections in the year following discharge and strongly suggests the benefits were driven by reduction in MRSA colonization at multiple body sites."
May 31 Clin Infect Dis abstract
Study suggests meningococcal vaccine may protect against gonorrhea
A matched cohort study published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases suggests that a meningococcal serogroup B vaccine may offer cross-protection against gonorrhea infection.
Using a cohort of teens and young adults in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California healthcare system, researchers with the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Alabama at Birmingham compared gonorrhea infections among recipients of the outer membrane vesical (OMV)-based four-component serogroup B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB) and recipients of non-OMV-containing polysaccharide-conjugate vaccines targeting serogroups A, C, W and Y (MenACWY).
Recent observational research from Norway and New Zealand has indicated that OMV-based meningococcal vaccines may be protective against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is becoming increasingly resistant to the last available oral antibiotic treatment options, and the researchers wanted to see if they could replicate those findings in a setting with distinct epidemiologic circumstances.
Comparing 6,641 recipients of 4CMenB to 26,471 recipients of MenACWY 31 days after index vaccination, the researchers found 27 gonorrhea cases among 4CMenB recipients and 295 among those who received MenACWY only, yielding gonorrhea incidence rates per 1,000 person-years of 2.0 (95% CI, 1.3 to 2.8) for 4CmenB and 5.2 (95% CI, 4.6 to 5.8) for MenACWY. In multivariable analyses adjusting for potential confounders (including race/ethnicity, prior HIV infection, and sexually transmitted infections in the prior year), gonorrhea rates were 46% lower among recipients of 4CMenB versus MenACWY (hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.86), but chlamydia rates were similar (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.17).
"These results are aligned with prior observational studies and lend support to ongoing randomized controlled trials of the effectiveness of 4CMenB against gonorrhea," the study authors wrote. "As rates of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea continue to increase in the US and globally, renewed attention to vaccination strategies is paramount to preventing untreatable gonorrhea disease."
Jun 1 Clin Infect Dis abstract