MUNSTER | Coming on the heels of this fall's MRSA scare, Community Healthcare System is piloting a new screening program for the potentially lethal bacteria.

The screening program will be piloted at The Community Hospital in Munster. It is designed to prevent carriers of the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus bacteria from becoming infected by it.

The screening process will detect community-acquired MRSA, which is passed from person to person in the community and is carried by people on their skin and in their nasal passages. People can carry the MRSA bacteria and be perfectly healthy; it is when it enters the body that it becomes dangerous, experts say.

If not detected, the MRSA bacteria could enter a patient's body through a cut, wound or incision by a medical device.

Dr. Daniel Smith, chairman of the Infection Prevention Committee at The Community Hospital, believes the media scare over hospital-acquired MRSA was unwarranted. What is a more serious threat, he says, is the MRSA already being carried by a patient that could lead to an infection.

"It was made into a big health scare in the media. They said MRSA was killing more people than AIDS, which is not really the truth," Smith said.

According to Smith, the screening process is not a reaction to the MRSA media scare, but a response to an increase of MRSA infections in the intensive care unit, where patients are generally more susceptible to serious infections.

Beginning Tuesday, all patients admitted to Community Hospital's intensive care unit will be given a nasal swab in order to test for MRSA bacteria. If the germ is detected, the patient will undergo a decolonization process. They will be given an antibiotic ointment to be applied in their nose and a special cleanser in order to kill the MRSA colonies they are carrying.

Community Hospital will be the first hospital to offer the screening and decolonization process, but Community Healthcare System's other hospitals, East Chicago's St. Catherine's and Hobart's St. Mary Medical Center, are evaluating the implementation of the program.