Stull and colleagues detail approaches for reducing pet-associated zoonotic infections.1 They and others have provided similar commentary in regard to preventing infections when pets or other animals are brought into health care facilities.2,3 Given variations in both pets and health care facilities, the acute care setting warrants the most vigilance.
Although there may be limited data to provide evidence-based recommendations in many contexts, the potential for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) epidemiology to be complicated by pet visitations is enough to suggest that most proposed animal visits to acute care settings are not advised. Canines can acquire MRSA in hospitals.4 Cross-transmission of MRSA between humans and pets is well known in the home.5–8
Even though there may be some arguments for enhancing quality of life with animal visits for individual patients, and some exceptions can be made (e.g., for service animals), the visitation of animals to acute care facilities is fraught with some risk and creates more activity for infection control teams. Reducing standards and creating frequent exceptions are only likely to lead to further demand for the same.
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