Methicillin-sensitive and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA/MRSA) - Point-of-care-testing (POCT) in Clinical Decision Making

The study EPICS-6 consists of three study phases. Emergency Department patients are screened for nasal and pharyngeal colonisation with Methicillin sensitive and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA/MRSA) using a point-of-care (POC)-PCR-testing method (cobas®LIAT®-System, Roche Molecular Systems Inc.) The first aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of MSSA/MRSA-colonisation in a routine cohort of Emergency Department patients. The second aim is to determine the impact of POC-guided decolonisation as compared to conventional laboratory testing on in-hospital infection rates with MSSA/MRSA in a pre-post-comparison study.