A Pilot Trial to Determine the Efficacy of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus for Reducing Colonization by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) (PROSE)

Healthcare-associated infections are an important threat to patient safety. Currently,
between 5 and 10 percent of patients admitted to acute care hospitals acquire one or more
infections; healthcare-associated infections affect approximately 2 million patients each
year in the United States, result in 90,000 deaths, and are associated with an added cost of
$4.5 to $5.7 billion per year. Seventy percent of healthcare-associated infections are
caused by antimicrobial resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA), resulting in increased antimicrobial usage, morbidity and mortality, making
prevention of multiresistant bacteria essential.

Eradication of colonization has been shown to greatly reduce infection; however, there are
no reliable means of providing sustained eradication of colonization. No effective means of
eradicating MRSA colonization exist.

Probiotics containing strains of lactobacilli represent a novel approach to the prevention
and control of antimicrobial resistance and have been studied extensively for a variety of
infections. Even though various studies have shown probiotics to be effective for prevention
of vaginal infections, urinary tract infections, etc no studies have examined the potential
of probiotics to eradicate colonization by resistant pathogens, such as MRSA.

Inclusion Criteria:

- subjects will be male or female

- 18 years of age or older

- may or may not be hospitalized

- able to take oral medications

- have been found to be colonized with MRSA or at high risk of being colonized by MRSA
and are not taking antibiotics

Exclusion Criteria:

- people on antibiotics will not be eligible to participate