Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MKSA)infections have become a major problem in many US hospitals in the last tenyears.‘,’ Attempts to solve the problem have been hampered by many factors.One of these factors is the difficulty in eradicating the organism fromcolonized sites and thereby removing one of the reservoirs of endemicity.Another complicating factor is the lack of consistency in the publishedliterature regarding what constitutes eradication and, therefore, when it isappropriate to discontinue isolation of patients or work restrictions ofpersonnel. Even the decisions regarding when and how often to culturepersonnel remain difficult to define.” Finally, although the Australianexperience illustrated an environmental component to an MRSA outbreak, therole of the environment in MRSA infections remains unclear. The followingreport describes the measures utilized to eradicate low-level MRSA skincolonization in a long-term psychiatric patient and illustrates severalproblems of-long-term MRSA carriage in institutionalized patients.