TY - JOUR
T1 - Modeling the effect of antibiotic exposure on the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitals with environmental contamination
AU - Huang, Qimin
AU - Horn, Mary Ann
AU - Ruan, Shigui
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partially supported by the University of Miami Provost’s Research Award (UM PRA 2019-409). We would like to thank Dr. Xi Huo and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions which helped us to improve the presentation of the paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 the Author(s).
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - In this paper both deterministic and stochastic models are developed to explore the roles that antibiotic exposure and environmental contamination play in the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in hospitals. Uncolonized patients without or with antibiotic exposure, colonized patients without or with antibiotic exposure, uncontaminated or contaminated healthcare workers, and free-living bacteria are included in the models. Under the assumption that there is no admission of the colonized patients, the basic reproduction number R0 is calculated. It is shown that when R0 < 1, the infection-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable; when R0 > 1, the infection is uniformly persistent. Numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis show that environmental cleaning is a critical intervention, and hospitals should use antibiotics properly and as little as possible. The rapid and efficient treatment of colonized patients, especially those with antibiotic exposure, is key in controlling MRSA infections. Screening and isolating colonized patients at admission, and improving compliance with hand hygiene are also important control strategies.
AB - In this paper both deterministic and stochastic models are developed to explore the roles that antibiotic exposure and environmental contamination play in the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in hospitals. Uncolonized patients without or with antibiotic exposure, colonized patients without or with antibiotic exposure, uncontaminated or contaminated healthcare workers, and free-living bacteria are included in the models. Under the assumption that there is no admission of the colonized patients, the basic reproduction number R0 is calculated. It is shown that when R0 < 1, the infection-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable; when R0 > 1, the infection is uniformly persistent. Numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis show that environmental cleaning is a critical intervention, and hospitals should use antibiotics properly and as little as possible. The rapid and efficient treatment of colonized patients, especially those with antibiotic exposure, is key in controlling MRSA infections. Screening and isolating colonized patients at admission, and improving compliance with hand hygiene are also important control strategies.
KW - Antibiotic exposure
KW - Basic reproduction number
KW - Deterministic and stochastic models
KW - Environmental contamination
KW - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
KW - Persistence
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U2 - 10.3934/mbe.2019181
DO - 10.3934/mbe.2019181
M3 - Article
C2 - 31499630
AN - SCOPUS:85064901383
VL - 16
SP - 3641
EP - 3673
JO - Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
JF - Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
SN - 1547-1063
IS - 5
ER -