Correlation between proportion of potentially infectious patients among all admitted patients (infectious relative indegree, IRI) and the MRSA bacteraemia incidence rate at hospital level, in England between 2001 and 2009.

<p>A) The proportion of potentially infectious patients among all admitted patients (log IRI) by hospital category. This proportion increases with hospital category, from small acute care hospitals to teaching hospitals. B) The MRSA bacteraemia incidence rate per hospital, between 2001 and 2009 (thin lines), and the mean per hospital category (Thick Lines), the MRSA incidence rate is highest in acute teaching hospitals. C) Correlation between the hospital log IRI and MRSA bacteraemia incidence rate for all regional hospital clusters. Over the 8 years, 20 times a cluster showed a significant positive correlation, while none showed a significant negative correlation. D) Partial correlation coefficient between the hospital log IRI and MRSA bacteraemia incidence rate for all hospitals, adjusted for incidence differences of regional clusters. Hospitals with a high degree of connectedness show higher MRSA rates than their lesser connected counterparts.