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CME Test 152

Release date: 12/18/2009
Termination date: 12/31/2010

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: What’s the Big Deal?

Gio J. Baracco, MD, Robert Muder, MD, and Rajiv Jain, MD

Goal
To review the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in the hospital and in the community.

Learning Objectives
After reading this article and taking the appropriate test, participants should be able to:

1. Recognize the spectrum of disease caused by MRSA in the community and in the health care setting.
2. Select the best treatment options for patients with MRSA infection.
3. Recognize the importance of MRSA transmission and asymptomatic colonization and implement prevention strategies in clinical practice.

Intended Audience
This CME activity is designed for physicians and other clinicians treating patients in the federal health care system.

CME Accreditation Information
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Quadrant HealthCom Inc. Albert Einstein College of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Estimated time to complete this activity is one hour.

Author Information
Dr. Baracco is the medical director of the Infection Control Program at the Miami VA Healthcare System and an associate professor of clinical medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, both in Miami, FL. Dr. Muder is the chief of the infectious disease section and Dr. Jain is the chief of staff and the program director for the VHA MRSA Prevention Initiative, both at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittbsburgh, PA. In addition, Dr. Jain and Dr. Muder are both professors of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.

CME Peer Review
This article has been peer reviewed and approved for CME credit by Ira Leviton, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine in the department of medicine (infectious diseases) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Review date: November 2009.

CME Conflict of Interest Statement
The Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy of Albert Einstein College of Medicine requires that authors participating in any CME activity disclose to the audience any relationship(s) with a pharmaceutical or equipment company. No author whose disclosed relationships prove to create a conflict of interest, with regard to his or her contribution to the activity, is permitted to contribute. These policies also require that authors participating in any CME activity disclose to the audience any discussions of unlabeled or investigational use of any commercial product or device not yet approved for use in the United States. The authors report no such relationships or discussions.

The CME reviewer, Dr. Leviton, reports being a consultant for Pfizer, Wyeth, Cubist, and Astellas. The staffs of CCME of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Federal Practitioner have no conflicts of interest with commercial interest related directly or indirectly to this educational activity.

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