Notification of multidrug-resistant organism results

Primary care providers with patients at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin now are being notified by fax of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) results.

Each time a patient is identified by laboratory culture as positive for a MDRO, such as MRSA or VRE, an infection alert is entered into Sunrise (an online clinic information tool) by the Infection Prevention and Control Department. For physicians on the medical staff who have access to Sunrise, the infection alert displays in red letters under the patient's name on all screens.

What does this mean for your patients?

• In the absence of clinical infection, a positive MRSA or VRE culture often represents only colonization. Attempted eradication of colonization by these organisms often is unsuccessful and usually is not indicated.
• Contact precautions are required during all inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient surgeries at Children's Hospital facilities until the infection alert no longer is necessary. Documentation of MDRO clearance should be sent to Infection Prevention and Control.
• Special isolation precautions may not be required during the care of MDRO colonized patients in the outpatient clinic setting. Routine Standard Precautions are required during all patient care.

Resources to assist health care providers with this issue can be found on the Children's Hospital website at chw.org. Click on the Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals button, then on Medical Guidelines. Under Infection Control, a MDRO link has been added. Information includes fact sheets, guidelines for the process of removing the infection alert and isolation precautions that are necessary during inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient surgeries.

For additional information on the Children's Hospital alert process, contact Infection Prevention and Control at (414) 266-3382. Information on MRSA can be found on cdc.gov/mrsa/. Information on VRE can be found on cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_VRE_publicFAQ.html.