American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Dec 2011
Effect of interventions in reducing the rate of infection after cesarean delivery.
Post-cesarean delivery (CD) surgical site infections can cause considerable maternal morbidity. We aimed to estimate the efficacy of a medical personnel education program in aseptic and scrub techniques on the rate of infectious morbidity after CD. ⋯ The interventions implemented at our institution led to a considerable decline in post-CD infectious morbidity.
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Am J Infect Control · Dec 2011
Preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infection in the zero-tolerance era.
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is one of the most common health care‒associated infections in the critical care setting. ⋯ Our findings suggest that reducing CAUTI rates in the ICU setting is a complex process that involves multiple performance measures and interventions that can be applied to SDU settings as well.
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Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of severe infections in newborns. Early-onset disease (EOD) occurs within the first week of life, and it is usually vertically transmitted. In late-onset disease (LOD), pathogens may also come from nosocomial sources. We report 3 cases of GBS infection in very low birth weight infants hospitalized by a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Italy. ⋯ The implementation of additional infection control measures was able to stop the diffusion of infection; however, clusters like this should remind us the ongoing threat of GBS for the small NICU patients.
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Am J Infect Control · Oct 2011
Economic impact of use of chlorhexidine-impregnated sponge dressing for prevention of central line-associated infections in the United States.
The economic impact of adding chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG)-impregnated sponge dressing to standard care (ie, chg-impregnated sponge dressing + skin preparation and transparent film dressing vs skin preparation and transparent film dressing) for the prevention of central-line infections was evaluated. ⋯ CHG-impregnated sponge dressing is a cost-effective CR-BSI prevention treatment option for patients requiring CVCs. The importance of these results should be considered in the context of federal government and insurance company policies that no longer permit enhanced reimbursement for CR-BSI.
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Am J Infect Control · Sep 2011
Multicenter StudyDevice-associated infections rates in adult, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units of hospitals in the Philippines: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) findings.
This study investigated the rate of device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), microbiological profiles, bacterial resistance, length of stay (LOS), and mortality rate in 9 intensive care units (ICUs) of 3 hospital members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in the Philippines. ⋯ DA-HAIs pose far greater threats to patient safety in Philippine ICUs than in US ICUs. The establishment of active infection control programs that involve infection surveillance and implement guidelines for prevention can improve patient safety and should become a priority.