Ohio awards $300K grant to study airborne MRSA in health care settings
- July 19, 2025
- Posted by: Web workers
- Category: Workers Comp
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has awarded a $300,000 grant to the University of Cincinnati to study airborne levels of MRSA to better protect health care workers.
Most infections of MRSA – short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of staph bacteria – occur in people who have been in hospitals, making it an especially strong risk for those working in health care settings, according to Monday’s grant announcement.
Researchers will be studying the presence of MRSA in the air in hospitals and the airborne transmission rate of the bacteria.
Experts say while MRSA has traditionally been transmitted through person-to-person contact, and with contact through contaminated surfaces, emerging evidence shows the airborne presence of MRSA in hospital settings pose a new risk to patients and health care staff.
Researchers from the university’s Division of Environmental and Industrial Hygiene in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences at the College of Medicine will conduct laboratory and field work at the UC Medical Center.
In cases where live MRSA is discovered in the air, the researchers will recommend disinfecting the air and offer other recommendations to further enhance workplace safety, according to the news release.
