It’s called mupirocin, and researchers with University of Iowa Health Care believe it can help prevent potentially serious infections caused by staphylococcus aureus. Researchers say about 30 percent of the general population has this bacteria in their nose. It’s usually harmless, but after surgery it can contaminate surgical sites, causing severe infections.

"I think one of the important things about our study is that its goal is to prevent these infections before they happen. And I think that’s a very important goal when we may have a lot of difficulty treating serious infections," says Loreen Herwaldt, UI Health Care epidemiologist.

The study also examined whether mupirocin could reduce staph infections at other sites. University of Iowa Health Care researchers enrolled more than 4,000 patients.

"The overall rate of staph infections was decreased, and that is important, particularly for patients who have had staph aureus in the past," says Herwaldt.

Researchers hope to identify risk factors that increase a patient’s likelihood of carrying the staph aureus bacteria. Doctors could then identify patients at risk for infection after surgery.

The University of Iowa study was published early this summer in the New England Journal of Medicine.