VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center researchers and their colleagues discovered two-out-of-three nursing home residents have multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) present in their bodies. GerMDROs are dangerous to elders because this group already has a weakened immune system, and those entering nursing home care will often have other complications that make fighting off infection more difficult. Researchers tracked 197 newly admitted residents at three VA nursing homes in Michigan and Ohio from April 2021 to September 2023. They found 37% of residents had at least one MDRO upon admission, and 65% had an MDRO at some point during their stay. For residents who came into the nursing home without an MDRO, 40% acquired a new MDRO, typically within 15 days. The study highlighted that residents’ hands were a significant transmission source during out-of-room activities like therapy sessions, spreading in 16% of these interactions. The findings underscore the importance of involving residents in infection prevention strategies such as frequent hand washing to lessen the spread of MDROs in nursing home settings. (Nature Communications, Mar. 13, 2025.)
