In the control hospital (alcohol hand gel introduced after new antibiotic treatment policy) there was a 30% decrease in the spread of MRSA in the hospital. In the intervention hospital the introduction of alcohol hand gel reduced the spread of MRSA by 21% (9).

he length of hospital stay is much longer for MRSA infections than MSSA infections for a number of reasons.

The repeated use of drugs to fight MRSA infections increases the likelihood that MRSA will also develop resistance to these drugs as well. As stated previously, some Staphylococcus aureus strains are becoming resistant to vancomycin through vanA. Resistance to vancomycin as well as the beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillin, methicillin…) would make fighting Staphylococcus aureus infections even more difficult than fighting MRSA infections.