Predicting Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Bloodstream Infection Incidence Rates using Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP)

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the most prevalent nosocomial pathogens globally, causing significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. MRSA bloodstream infection (BSI) incidence rates in Canadian hospitals have significantly risen by almost 60% and have a mortality of over 20% upon Intensive Care Unit admission. MRSA is believed to be spread through healthcare workers; thus, high hand hygiene compliancy in addition to environmental cleaning are the cornerstone countermeasures to disrupting its transmission. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), in collaboration with the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP), conducts national, sentinel surveillance on healthcare-associated infections like MRSA. As a Student Epidemiologist, I developed a research proposal detailing two study objectives: 1) develop a regression model to predict all incident MRSA BSI rates among acute-care hospitals in Canada using CNISP MRSA BSI incident cases from 2000 to 2019, and 2) create a compartmental (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased) model to determine the impact of various Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures on the risk of healthcare-associated MRSA BSI transmission specifically. This study hopes to demonstrate that proper IPC compliance is associated with lower incident MRSA BSI rates with the goal being to produce a manuscript draft by 2021. MRSA poses a serious threat to patient safety globally and is becoming a growing national public health concern in Canada; determining which IPC strategy is most effective at disrupting MRSA transmission is essential to reducing incidence and mortality rates.