The Journal of hospital infection
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Comparative Study
Cost-effectiveness of interferon-gamma release assay for systematic tuberculosis screening of healthcare workers in low-incidence countries.
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the important occupationally acquired infectious diseases in low-incidence countries. Delays in TB diagnosis and treatment among healthcare workers (HCWs) result in costly large-scale TB contact screening among patients and other HCWs. ⋯ Systematic TB screening using QFT is cost-effective for screening HCWs, and is recommended in low-incidence countries.
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Surgical site infection (SSI) after colorectal surgery is the leading cause of postoperative morbidity. Opioids induce immunosuppression through activation of μ-opioid receptors expressed on leucocytes, and through opioid withdrawal. A high dose of opioid administered as remifentanil during surgery may induce immunosuppression, leading to the development of SSI. ⋯ Remifentanil-based anaesthesia increased the incidence of SSI. A possible reason may be opioid-induced immunosuppression or opioid withdrawal-induced immunosuppression.
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Review
Infection control hazards associated with the use of forced-air warming in operating theatres.
A review is presented of the published experimental and clinical research into the infection control hazards of using forced air-warming (FAW) in operating theatres to prevent inadvertent hypothermia. This evidence has been reviewed with emphasis on the use of ultra-clean ventilation, any interaction it has with different types of patient warming (and FAW in particular), and any related increased risk of surgical site infection (SSI). ⋯ Nevertheless, whereas this remains unproven, we recommend that surgeons should at least consider alternative patient-warming systems in areas where contamination of the operative field may be critical. Although this is not a systematic review of acceptable randomized controlled clinical trials, which do not exist, it does identify that there is a need for definitive research in this field.
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Multicenter Study
Risk factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa acquisition in intensive care units: a prospective multicentre study.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major nosocomial pathogen in intensive care units (ICUs); however, endogenous versus exogenous origin of contamination remains unclear. ⋯ Individual risk factors and environmental factors for which intervention is possible were identified for P. aeruginosa acquisition.