How discharged patients can carry superbugs home

What they found: University of Iowa-led researchers examined more than 158 million insurance claims between 2001 and 2021 and found methicillin-resistant staph, or MRSA, in more than 424,000 patients.

• The researchers looked specifically at family members where two or more members of the household were enrolled in the same insurance plan for a month.
• Those who had a hospitalized family member with MRSA within the last 30 days were 71 times more likely to get the infection themselves..
• But even after removing patients with known cases, they found mere exposure to a family member who was recently discharged from the hospital was associated with a 44% higher risk of infection. That risk increased with the duration of that family member's hospital stay.

What they're saying: The researchers recommended hospitals improve testing for MRSA colonization, especially at discharge, even when a patient in asymptomatic.