The Journal of hospital infection
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Intensive care unit-acquired (ICU-acquired) bloodstream infections (BSI) are an important complication of critical illness. The objective of this study was to quantify the excess length of stay, mortality and cost attributable to ICU-acquired BSI. A matched cohort study was conducted in all adult ICUs in the Calgary Health Region between 1 May 2000 and 30 April 2003. ⋯ Among survivor-matched pairs, the median excess lengths of ICU and hospital stay attributable to development of ICU-acquired BSI were two and 13.5 days, respectively, and the attributable cost due to ICU-acquired BSI was 25,155 dollars per case survivor. Critically ill patients who develop ICU-acquired BSI suffer excess morbidity and mortality, and incur significantly increased healthcare costs. These data support expenditures on infection prevention and control programmes and further research into reducing the impact of these infections.
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Two mobile TOUL-400 units (types 1 and 2) that produce an exponential ultra-clean air flow (EUA) via a mobile screen were evaluated (maximum height from floor to centre of screen: type 1, 1.4m; type 2, 1.6m). Bacterial deposition rates were lowered by >60% (P=0.001) over a table area of 1.7 m (length)x1.0m (width) with the TOUL-400 type 1 unit, and the mean air count at 1.0m from the screen was reduced from 23 to 1.6 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 in experiments in a room with six air changes/h (ACH). The corresponding reductions were two- to three-fold greater in an operating room (OR) with 16 ACH due to higher bacterial contamination levels in the control experiments. ⋯ The newly developed TOUL-300 surgical instrument table (1.3-1.7 x 0.6m), equipped at one end with the same EUA unit as the TOUL-400 unit, was evaluated for a room with six ACH and an OR with 16 ACH. It yielded ultra-clean air at 0.8m (1.9 CFU/m3, 96% reduction, P=0.01) and reduced the deposition rate by >60% over most of the table surface. Simplified positioning of the screen or a longer reach, plus a mechanism for precise focusing of the air flow on to the wound area would increase the clinical utility of the TOUL EUA system.