Clinical trial NCT01105767: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Skin and Soft Tissue Infection (SSTI) Prevention in Military Trainees
Official title: Evaluating Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Military Trainees
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Staphylococcus Aureus
MRSA Skin Infections
Staphylococcal Skin Infections
Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus
MRSA Skin Infection
Staphylococcal Skin Infections
Chlorhexidine gluconate
Lead sponsor: Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
First posted: 2010-04-16
Enrollment: 30209
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 42
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This cluster-randomized prospective study will evaluate the effect of hygiene-based intervention strategies on the incidence of overall SSTI and MRSA-associated SSTI among military trainees. The proposed interventions used singly or in combination include standardized training and education, and weekly chlorhexidine showers.

Detailed description: MRSA SSTIs have become endemic in congregate community settings where there is frequent close person-to-person contact, such as athletic teams, correctional facilities, and military training facilities. These infections interfere with the mission of training soldiers as they impair soldiers' ability to participate in required activities and successfully complete a training program. Hygiene-based prevention programs (e.g., hand washing, environmental disinfection, and community-based education) appear to be effective in stemming outbreaks of MRSA SSTIs and need to by systematical evaluated.

This cluster-randomized prospective study will evaluate the effect of hygiene-based intervention strategies on the incidence of overall SSTI and MRSA-associated SSTI among military trainees. The study population will be drawn from six training battalions, each consisting of an average of six companies. Each company is composed of four platoons consisting of approximately 50 trainees. Training battalions are the unit of randomization in this study and sub-clusters (platoons within companies) within each battalion will receive the same hygiene-based intervention assigned to that battalion at study start. During the proposed 20-month evaluation period, five cycles of platoons (approximately 14 weeks per cycle) will enter and exit training activities. In total, the study population will be comprised of approximately 36,000 trainees observed over a 20-month period. Each of the six battalions will receive an in-processing preventive medicine briefing augmented with MRSA prevention information based on U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. Additionally, trainees who seek medical care for a SSTI will receive standardized care at a SSTI clinic applying uniform practice guidance. Four of the battalions will also receive supplemental SSTI education for trainees and drill sergeants, including standardized guidance on SSTI surveillance (e.g., skin inspection) for drill sergeants; trainees will be instructed to take a 10 minute shower with soap every Sunday while in garrison; and will be issued a personal first aid kit. Two of these four battalions will be offered chlorhexidine antiseptic body wash to use during the Sunday shower. Endpoints of the evaluation (i.e., incident SSTIs among military trainees) will be captured through clinical record review at the completion of training.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Trainees assigned to one of the six selected training battalions
* Trainees who present with an SSTI at the clinic or the hospital
* Provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Fails to meet inclusion criteria

Primary outcomes:
measure: Incidence of Skin and Soft Tissue Infection (SSTI)
timeFrame: At the end of the 20 month study
measure: Incidence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)-Associated SSTI
timeFrame: At the end of the 20 month study
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Columbus
country: United States
facility: Usa Meddac Mach
state: Georgia
Study officials:
affiliation: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
name: Michael Ellis, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Jefferson T, Del Mar CB, Dooley L, Ferroni E, Al-Ansary LA, Bawazeer GA, van Driel ML, Jones MA, Thorning S, Beller EM, Clark J, Hoffmann TC, Glasziou PP, Conly JM. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Nov 20;11(11):CD006207. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5.
citation: Johnson RC, Ellis MW, Schlett CD, Millar EV, LaBreck PT, Mor D, Elassal EM, Lanier JB, Redden CL, Cui T, Teneza-Mora N, Bishop DK, Hall ER, Bishop-Lilly KA, Merrell DS. Bacterial Etiology and Risk Factors Associated with Cellulitis and Purulent Skin Abscesses in Military Trainees. PLoS One. 2016 Oct 25;11(10):e0165491. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165491. eCollection 2016.
citation: Millar EV, Schlett CD, Law NN, Chen WJ, D'Onofrio MJ, Bennett JW, Tribble DR, Ellis MW. Reduction in Acute Respiratory Infection Among Military Trainees: Secondary Effects of a Hygiene-Based Cluster-Randomized Trial for Skin and Soft-Tissue Infection Prevention. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016 Sep;37(9):1118-20. doi: 10.1017/ice.2016.154. Epub 2016 Jul 8. No abstract available.
citation: D'Onofrio MJ, Schlett CD, Millar EV, Cui T, Lanier JB, Law NN, Tribble DR, Ellis MW. Reduction in acute gastroenteritis among military trainees: secondary effects of a hygiene-based cluster-randomized trial for skin and soft tissue infection prevention. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Mar;36(3):358-60. doi: 10.1017/ice.2014.65.
citation: Millar EV, Chen WJ, Schlett CD, Cui T, Crawford KB, Lanier JB, Tribble DR, Ellis MW. Frequent use of chlorhexidine-based body wash associated with a reduction in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization among military trainees. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Feb;59(2):943-9. doi: 10.1128/AAC.03993-14. Epub 2014 Nov 24.
citation: Ellis MW, Schlett CD, Millar EV, Crawford KB, Cui T, Lanier JB, Tribble DR. Prevalence of nasal colonization and strain concordance in patients with community-associated Staphylococcus aureus skin and soft-tissue infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2014 Oct;35(10):1251-6. doi: 10.1086/678060. Epub 2014 Aug 19.
citation: Ellis MW, Schlett CD, Millar EV, Wilkins KJ, Crawford KB, Morrison-Rodriguez SM, Pacha LA, Gorwitz RJ, Lanier JB, Tribble DR. Hygiene strategies to prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin and soft tissue infections: a cluster-randomized controlled trial among high-risk military trainees. Clin Infect Dis. 2014 Jun;58(11):1540-8. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciu166. Epub 2014 Mar 14.