Seminars

Multi-resistant Staphyllococus Aureus (MRSA) is a drug-resistant bacterium
which is a significant cause of hospital-acquire infections and associated morbidity.
Numerous interventions to reduce the prevalence of MRSA have been proposed, 
among them on-admission screening of new patients followed by the isolation of 
colonised patients. Such screening has been shown to be effective in controlling
low-prevalence outbreaks but, its value in high-prevalence settings such as in the UK
is uncertain. A stochastic compartment model to assess the costs and effects of screening
in NHSScotland was developed in the Simile modelling language. Some results from this
model are presented, together with pointers for further research.