{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]],"date-time":"2026-01-06T10:19:15Z","timestamp":1767694755280,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750723200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Infection is the primary cause of death among burn-injured patients, with soft tissue infection trailing only pneumonia as the most common source of sepsis. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become endemic in burn units, resulting in the frequent initiation of empiric vancomycin therapy. Methicillin-resistant S aureus nasal swab screening rapidly identifies patients who are MRSA-colonized, informing contact precaution and decontamination protocols. We hypothesized that MRSA nasal swab results could also be used to reliably predict results of wound cultures obtained from infected burns. We performed a retrospective review of all 250 patients who underwent weekly nasal swab screening and developed a burn infection in our unit over a 36-month period. By comparing nasal screening results with bacterial cultures, we determined test performance metrics for MRSA nasal swabs: sensitivity 64.1%, specificity 96.2%, positive predictive value 75.8%, and negative predictive value 93.5%. Nasal swabs were slightly more sensitive for predicting community-acquired MRSA infections compared with hospital-acquired infections. In total, 30 patients (76.9%) presented with community-acquired MRSA infections; of those, 20 (66.7%) had tested positive for MRSA colonization on nasal screen. A total of 9 patients (23.1%) developed hospital-acquired MRSA infections; 5 (55.6%) had tested positive for MRSA on a preceding nasal swab. The NPV calculated here indicates that patients who test negative for MRSA colonization by recent nasal swab are highly unlikely to have a burn infection caused by MRSA. Burn centers should employ universal MRSA nasal screening and de-escalate MRSA antibiotic coverage when treating burn infections in patients with a negative nasal swab result.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jbcr\/iraf117","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T07:35:54Z","timestamp":1750750554000},"page":"29-36","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Reliability of Methicillin-Resistant\n                    <i>Staphylococcus aureus<\/i>\n                    (MRSA) Nasal Swab Screening for Predicting MRSA Burn Infections"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"47","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6771-9974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Max L","family":"Silverstein","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Burn Center, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center , San Jose, CA 95128 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto, CA 94304 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yvonne","family":"Karanas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Burn Center, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center , San Jose, CA 95128 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto, CA 94304 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9526-4062","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clifford C","family":"Sheckter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Burn Center, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center , San Jose, CA 95128 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine , Palo Alto, CA 94304 ,","place":["United 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