Infection Route of MRSA to Pregnant Women and to Newborns

It has been reported that newborn babies are compromised hosts, and to be MRSA carriers means that the danger of occurrence of MRSA infection is high. Our department has focused on improving the hospital environment to guard against hospital infections. Infection from the hospital environment was prevented by looking for staphylococcus bacteria in the nasal cavity during pregnancy, and isolating pregnant MRSA carriers from others. Such effects as MRSA infection of the body members and organs, the newborn babies, nasal cavities of their family members, and discharging MRSA into hospital environments were investigated. 1. The rate of MRSA carriers among pregnant women was 0.8% (3.7% of pregnant women engaged in medical services, and 0.5% of pregnant women engaged in non-medical services). In the former case it was suspected that their children became MRSA carriers for some reason and they became infected through their children. In the latter case, there are two possibilities ; one was that MRSA was picked up at the place of work was not removed by sterilization, sothat they became carriers, and the other is infection through children similarly to non-medical workers. 2. A healthy carrier was observed to be spreading MRSA in to the environment. 3. In the environment where hospital infections were fully dealt with, MRSA infection of newborn babies was always from puerperal women who were carriers. 4. The rates for both MRSA carrying in the nasal cavities of newborn babies at the time of dehospitalization and 1-month-old babies were distinctly low, when the nasal MRSA of puerperal was removed by sterilization, compared to without sterilization. The rate of MRSA infection of pregnant women is high, and to keep a hospital free from infection, it is necessary to check for staphylococcus bacteria in their nasal cavities. When MRSA is found, even if the women is a carrier, positive sterilization should be carried out. To prevent infecting other negative pregnant women and to prevent infection spreading between other newborn babies and infected newborn babies through mother-and-baby infection, it is also necessary to isolate puerperal carriers and their babies, that is, to use private rooms for mothers and their babies.