Limited evidence of nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission in a low-prevalence tertiary care centre: a five-year genomic epidemiology study

Background

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has traditionally been considered a nosocomial pathogen. However, declining MRSA prevalence in many European countries has raised questions about the relative contribution of nosocomial transmission to MRSA epidemiology in low-prevalence healthcare settings. We aimed to characterize MRSA population structure and transmission dynamics in a German tertiary care hospital.