DPH's Targeted MDRO Prevention Program
The CDC’s 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States includes national death, and infection estimates that underscore the continued threat of AR in the U.S. More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. The CDC’s Antimicrobial Resistance Threats in the United States, 2021 – 2022 reported that six bacterial antimicrobial-resistant hospital-onset infections increased by a combined 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, peaking in 2021, and remaining above pre-pandemic levels in 2022. In addition, the number of reported clinical cases of Candida auris (C. auris)—a type of yeast that can spread in healthcare facilities, is often resistant to antifungal medications, and can cause severe illness—increased nearly five-fold from 2019 to 2022. These data show that additional action is critical to slow the spread and impact of antimicrobial resistance.
Our DPH Targeted MDRO Prevention Program, based on the CDC’s Public Health Strategies to Prevent the Spread of Novel and Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDROs), targets our high-risk facilities with CPO and C. auris proactive screening to detect colonization cases and to enhance IPC activities to identify and prevent spread. As cases are discovered, investigating those cases, reinforcing core IPC practices, conduct further screening and onsite IPC assessments, ensuring communication and focusing on strengthening all prevention activities in all facilities.
The CDC’s Interim Guidance for a Public Health Response to Contain Novel or Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDROs) helps our public health teams launch early, aggressive responses at the first sign of new or unusual resistance. It’s a systematic approach to slow spread of novel or rare MDROs or mechanisms through a response to one case or more of targeted organisms (Pan-resistant organisms, Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), & Candida auris). The response tiers of the Containment Strategy are based on pathogens & resistance mechanisms. Our DPH Targeted MDRO Containment Program includes rapid identification of organisms, infection control response assessments (ICARs), colonization screenings when needed, coordinated responses between facilities, and continued assessments and colonization screenings until spread is controlled.