Epidemiology and Genomic Surveillance of Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus in ICU Neonatology : Rectal and Nasal Screening, Cross Transmission and Decolonisation

Newborns hospitalized in Neonatology are particularly vulnerable to infections, in particular healthcare associated infection (HAI). Staphylococcus aureus represents the 2nd microorganism responsible for sepsis, this infection is particularly serious and like any HAI, it increases the length of hospitalization of newborns and neonatal morbidity.

In September 2020, the CDC published recommendations for the prevention and control of Staphylococcus aureus infections in neonatal intensive care unit/ICU. They specify the indications for implementing a MSSA surveillance strategy as well as the screening and management methods.

Despite the absence of a defined strategy at the national level, our establishment chose to initiate management measures several years ago following serious infections and MSSA epidemics in neonatal intensive care unit/ICU.

With the aim of improving the efficiency of care and evaluating the strategy chosen at the establishment, it is necessary to describing

• the epidemiology of MSSA carriage and infections
• cross-transmission of MSSA strains between patients
• the success rate of decolonization
• the sensitivity of detection of digestive carriage by stool swabbing in order to limit the number of samples from newborns.