Cost-effectiveness of screening, decolonisation and isolation strategies for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in hospitals: a sex-stratified mathematical modelling study

A study in Chile found that antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) significantly impact hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, and mortality by sex. The study used a sex-stratified deterministic compartmental model to analyze hospital transmission dynamics and the cost-effectiveness of nine interventions. The results showed that pre-emptive isolation was the most cost-effective intervention for men, followed by chromogenic agar coupled with MRSA decolonisation. The study suggests that targeted infection control strategies could effectively address rising CRE and MRSA infections, focusing on men as primary drivers for transmission.