More than a quarter of U.S. nursing homes are hotbeds for the antibiotic-resistant superbug MRSA, and contaminated gloves clothes of healthcare workers are the chief mode of transmission, new research shows.

The findings, published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, suggest more needs to be done to educating nursing home workers about ways to combat the spread of life-threatening resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

"One in four nursing home residents harbor MRSA in some settings. We know that healthcare workers serve as a vector for MRSA transmission from one resident to another in settings such as nursing homes," said lead researcher Mary-Claire Roghmann, M.D.

"The use of barrier precautions, such as gowns and gloves, limit this transmission, but guidance on when to use them is limited. The goal of our research was to determine the most important times to wear gowns and gloves in nursing homes by measuring the risk of MRSA contamination during different types of care."

The findings are based on MRSA infections among 403 residents of 13 community-based nursing homes in Maryland and Michigan. The researchers assessed whether interactions with healthcare workers led to contamination of their gowns and gloves by MRSA bacteria.

The results showed 28 percent of residents (113 out of 403) harbored MRSA. Glove contamination was higher than gown contamination (24 percent vs. 14 percent) reinforcing the importance of hand hygiene and washing between residents to prevent transmission of MRSA.

High-risk activities included dressing and transferring residents, brushing teeth or combing hair, and changing linens and diapers.

"This research is particularly important since residents in these communities require a lot of assistance from their healthcare workers. New MRSA acquisition in nursing homes is substantial. Our study, for the first time, defines the type of care that increases the risk of transmission and suggests modifications to the current indications of gown and glove use," said Roghmann.