Henderson, ElizabethSimmonds, Kimberley Anne2016-01-262016-01-262016-01-262016http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2777Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most common healthcare associated infections (HAIs) worldwide. It has both an economic and personal cost to the healthcare system and infected individuals. Admission screening for MRSA is one method to detect MRSA entering the acute care system. Screening combined with isolation is currently a common method for preventing MRSA transmission in Alberta acute care facilities. There remains uncertainty about the best methods to screening patients for MRSA. Universal screening is the testing of all patients admitted to the hospital, regardless of their risk of MRSA colonization; conversely targeted screening only tests a selected patient population considered at greatest risk for MRSA colonization. Mathematical models for infectious diseases, such as MRSA, are very useful for predicting outcomes with varying scenarios. The purpose of this project was to develop and validate a deterministic differential equations model for MRSA transmission to determine the optimal screening method for the detection of MRSA infected individuals entering acute care facilities. Based on the local epidemiology used to develop this model, the conclusions drawn from the model are that targeted screening of 70-90% of high-risk patients will reduce unidentified-infected MRSA positive individuals. However, this Alberta model that shows a targeted screening program for high-risk individuals with horizontal measures to reduce the hospital transmission rate is the most effective way to reduce MRSA in Alberta acute care facilities.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.EpidemiologyEpidemiologyMathematical ModelingMRSA Screeningdoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/24781