Optimal control applied to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitals

ABSTRACT

Optimal control methods are applied to a deterministic mathematical model to characterize the factors contributing to the replacement of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), and quantify the effectiveness of three interventions aimed at limiting the spread of CA-MRSA in healthcare settings. Characterizations of the optimal control strategies are established, and numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the results.

KEYWORDS:

• Optimal control
• MRSA
• decolonization
• screening

AMS SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION:

• 49K15
• 92D30
• 92B05

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr Erika M.C. D'Agata at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts for her useful discussions on our project and choices of the decolonization of colonized CA-MRSA patients, the screening of patients colonized and infected with CA-MRSA as control strategies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.