Abstract

AIM. To analyse the MRSA percentages, incidence and antimicrobial susceptibility in Estonian hospitals.

METHODS. Retrospective laboratory-based surveillance data were collected from 5 largest Estonian hospitals during 2006–2008. These hospitals accounted for 755 211 bed-days and 127 655 hospitalisations in 2008.

RESULTS. During the study period a total of 418 MRSA cases were identified out of 9104 non-duplicate S. aureus infection cases (total MRSA proportion 4.6%). The total incidence for this period was 1.84 per 10 000 bed-days. However, high variation in the MRSA proportion and incidence was seen  in different hospitals. The overall resistance (percentage of resistant and intermediate strains) of MRSA was 78% to Gentamicin, 62.5% to Clindamycin, 23% to Doxycycline, 72% to Erythromycin, 89% to Ciprofl oxacin, 25.5% to Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole and 40.5% to Fucidic acid. All strains were sensitive to Vancomycin.

CONCLUSIONS. The percentage of invasive MRSA isolates refl ected well the general percentage of MRSA. The percentage and incidence of MRSA were stable in Estonia but showed high variation between hospitals. Although the resistance of MRSA to these antibiotics remained relatively stable in the study period, data from different hospitals varied highly.