Two of the ICUs at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a Midwestern
university teaching hospital were among the units
involved in a multi-institutional quasi-experimental study
by Climo et al11 on the effect of CHG bathing and MRSA
acquisition. Climo’s study demonstrated a 32% reduction
in MRSA acquisition. Those 2 ICUs resumed typical
soap-and-water bathing of their patients when the CHG
bathing intervention ended at the completion of the study.
Infection surveillance data showed a return to higher
MRSA acquisition rates with the soap-and-water baths