Nasal mupirocin treatment of pharynx-colonized methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus: preliminary study with 10 carrier infants.

BACKGROUND

Nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in infants has become a serious concern and a new means of preventing the transmission of MRSA in the community needs to be considered.

METHODS

We performed nasal mupirocin treatment on 10 infants who were MRSA-positive either in the nose or the pharynx and evaluated the effect of mupirocin on the eradication of MRSA.

RESULTS

Eradication of MRSA from the nose was successful in two cases and eradication from the pharynx in six (66.6%) of nine cases. The number of treatments required to achieve eradication varied; within three courses for nose carriers and from one to seven courses for pharynx carriers. Eradication was unsuccessful even after five to seven treatments in three pharynx-limited carriers.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that the effect of nasal mupirocin treatment on pharynx-colonized MRSA is limited and that repetitive treatment is necessary in some cases. However, in view of the possibility of preferential pharyngeal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus in infancy, nasal mupirocin treatment deserves further evaluation for eradication not only of nose- but also of pharynx-colonized MRSA.