The results of a new clinical trial indicate that treating parents with short-course intranasal mupirocin and topical chlorhexidine bathing can reduce the risk of transmitting Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) to newborns in intensive care units (ICUs).

The randomized trial, which had its findings published in JAMA, included 190 neonates with parents colonized with S aureus. Parents were treated with intranasal mupirocin and chlorhexidine-impregnated cloths or placebo (petrolatum intranasal ointment and nonmedicated soap cloths).

The findings revealed that the use of the impregnated cloths "… significantly reduced the hazard of acquiring colonization with a parental S aureus strain."

The authors note that this trial suggests parents represent a "major reservoir" from which neonates acquire S aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Neonates are unique because they an immature microbiome upon NICU admission and rarely have preexisting S aureus colonization. Rather, neonates acquire S aureus colonization in the NICU from exposure to people and objects.

S aureus, the authors note, is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections in the NICU. Parents with S aureus may expose neonates to S aureus colonization, which is a well-established predisposing factor to invasive S aureus disease. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, staph infections can be serious or fatal and the risk of more serious staph infection is higher for patients in ICUs.

The randomized trial had a study period of November 2014 through December 2018. It was conducted by conducted by clinicians and researchers at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.