The Journal of hospital infection
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Multicenter Study
Hand rub consumption and hand hygiene compliance are not indicators of pathogen transmission in intensive care units.
The objective of this study was to investigate whether nosocomial infection (NI) rates, hand hygiene compliance rates and the amount of alcohol-based hand rub used for hand disinfection are useful indicators of pathogen transmission in intensive care units (ICUs), and whether they could be helpful in identifying infection control problems. All isolates of 10 of the most frequent pathogens from patients who were hospitalized in an ICU for >48 h were genotyped to identify transmission episodes in five ICUs. The incidence of transmission was correlated with hand hygiene compliance, hand rub consumption and NI rates. ⋯ There was no correlation between the incidence of transmission episodes and hand rub consumption or hand hygiene compliance. The correlation between transmission rates and NI rates was 0.4 (P = 0.5), and with the exclusion of one ICU, it was 1 (P < 0.01). The incidence of NI is a relatively good indicator for the identification of pathogen transmissions, but hand rub consumption and hand hygiene compliance, at least with the relatively low level of compliance found in this study, are not indicators of pathogen transmission.
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Multicenter Study
Infections following major heart surgery in European intensive care units: there is room for improvement (ESGNI 007 Study).
Patients undergoing major heart surgery (MHS) may be at increased risk for nosocomial infections. To assess the incidence and type of infections in MHS patients in European intensive care units (ICUs) and their quality of care, a questionnaire was sent to a selection of MHS ICUs in Europe. Seventeen hospitals from seven European countries participated. ⋯ An infectious disease specialist was regularly involved in VAP management in only 35% of the ICUs, and the therapeutic approach to VAP involved de-escalation in 59% of the ICUs. MHS ICUs in Europe still have a high rate of postoperative infections. Well-recognized routine practices for the diagnosis and treatment of VAP are not implemented regularly in many European institutions.